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| Monday,
April 9, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Soccer World Cup qualifier
Ganguly flays Aussies’ behaviour Mark Waugh writes |
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Fake tickets for Goa tie? Sodhi puts Punjab back in
reckoning JCT, FC Kochin evenly
matched Campbell’s ton lifts
Zimbabwe West Indies all out for
140 Tiger Woods wrests
lead Seniors plotted
my ouster: Miandad Netherlands, Sweden
in semis Baroda 409
for 9
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Soccer World Cup qualifier Bangalore, April 8 The goal that stunned UAE, who were considered strong opponents, and gave India an advantage in the opener itself, was hammered by Dias Alberto Jules Claudio in the 71st minute. The prized goal was netted in a virutal goalmouth scramble, when Claudio made no mistake in flicking the ball into the net off a stop by another star striker, I.M. Vijayan. Khalid Ahmed Jamil’s throw from the circle, was intercepted with immaculate precision by Vijayan and the Indian skipper Baichung Bhutia, who was near the goal mouth, was making all out effort to cash in on that precious move. With the UAE defenders storming into the goalmouth in full strength and aiding its custodian Mutaz Abdulla Mohammed to prevent India from scoring, the ball rolled from the foot of Bhutia and Claudio, who was waiting like an eagle, flicked into the net. The Indians with this goal did not disappoint the packed holiday crowd that had been there with high expectations. An elated Indian coach, Sukhwinder Singh said, “It is a very good victory for Indian football and for the team”. Beaming Bhutia said, “The victory makes us feel great”. With this victory in the opener, India go one-up in the qualifying rounds which involves three other nations — UAE, Yemen and Brunei. The credit for Indian victory should also go to its goal keeper Virender Singh, who created an impregnable fort for UAE strikers. The Indian defence came good today and its strategy of playing 4-4-2 worked well. Sukhvinder’s strategy of deploying ace striker Vijayan after 60 minutes of play, paid rich dividends, as the FC Kochin livewire, combined well with Bhutia in attacking the UAE fort constantly. Vijayan who replaced R.C. Prakash, swung into action, in a determined bid to score. UAE, ranked 6th in Asia and 64th in FIFA list, opened its attack on an impressive note, having a close call on
India’s goal mouth in the third minute itself when Yaser Salem Saleh Ali, sent in a powerful shot, which landed into the safe gloves of Virender Singh. In the 7th minute, Abdul Salam Jumaa Anbar came near scoring off a pass from Saleh Ali, but sent the ball wide. UAE miffed a golden scoring chance in the 10th minute, when its skipper Mohamed Omar M. Ahmed’s header missed the target off a pass from Abdul Raheem Jumaa Anbar.
PTI |
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Leander Paes ensures Indian win Tokyo, April 8 In a titanic struggle, Paes disposed of Japanese top seed Takao Suzuki 6-7 (4/6), 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 6-4 in the crucial reverse singles match lasting four and a half hours to give India an unassailable 3-1 lead at the Ariake Colosseum here today. Paes single-handedly rode India to this Davis Cup victory as he was the common factor in all the three wins that the country registered against the Japanese. After winning the opening singles match against Yaoki Ishii 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, he teamed up with Mahesh Bhupathi to squash the challenge of Thomas Shimada and Suzuki 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 yesterday. Japan had levelled with India on the opening day when Suzuki beat Bhupathi 6-1, 6-0, 6-2. Goichi Motomura salvaged some pride for Japan with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 win over Harsh Mankad in the last inconsequential rubber today. It was India’s 16th consecutive victory over Japan who were seeking a place in the World Group play-off for the first time since 1985. India will now face the winner between New Zealand and Uzbekistan in a July play-off where a win will ensure a berth in the elite 16-nation World Group 2002. The cliffhanger today saw a determined Paes ebbing as well as reaching the zenith with fortunes swaying on either sides. Having conceded the first set after it was stretched into the tie-breaker 6-7 (4/6), Paes rose up to the challenge to clamp his authority on the next and win the set 6-1. It was two days of continuous back-breaking tennis for the Indian power-house but he showed little signs of exhaustion. Few among the 5,000 strong spectators present here in anticipation that Japan may rewrite history by springing a surprise for the first time in 71 years against India, would have expected Paes to recover after he lost the third, again a tie-breaker 6-7 (5/7). They were probably not aware of Paes’ abilities to excel in crunch situations. Paes, playing his 51st singles rubber in Davis Cup, roared back into the game to take the remaining last two crucial sets 6-4, 6-4. In the final set, Paes overcame a 1-3 deficit to take the fifth and sixth games to even the score 3-3. He then broke Suzuki’s serve in the ninth game after tying 4-4 to finally take the set 6-4. Winning six games in each of the five sets, Paes, ranked 274 in ATP, proved he was decidedly better than his rival, although Suzuki a better-ranked player at 154, gave his most inspired performance to this date. India’s non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan overwhelmed and dazzled by the brilliance of today’s winner told PTI, “It was Leander Paes’ stunning fightback that gave us the victory we take home.” Hailing Paes as “India’s Davis Cup hero”, he said “both players fought tooth and nail and the tennis they produced was sheer magic. “Paes gave it his best effort when he was led 1-3 in the last set,” Krishnan said. Japanese coach Jun Kamiwazumi lamented the defeat which left the country nursing a 2-16 record against India and said, “The win was there for the taking today and we didn’t take it. We really needed someone to beat Paes but unfortunately our top players couldn’t do it.”
PTI |
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Ganguly flays Aussies’ behaviour Sydney, April 8 A headline in The Sun Herald today read, “Gloating Indian skipper’s final send-off to Waugh’s
Whingers”. The report further quoted Ganguly as saying, “it just puts me off, they are complaining just about anything and everything. They are supposed to be a good team but to see them complain every time is just schoolboy stuff. “There seemed to be just too much of it, which started right from the beginning of the series.”
PTI |
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Mark Waugh writes Watching the last two games from Australia was not something I thought would happen, but the way we won the series certainly made good viewing. In may last article I had predicted that we would win the last two games to clinch the series. However, I knew it would take some doing and the way we won the games, particularly the Goa match was a great achievement. From what I could see on television, the pitch looked slow and difficult to bat on. This made overhauling a target of 266 all the more creditable. The team looked determined to win the one-day series and it is some consolation after the way we lost the Test series. Losing both would have been a little unfair since we did play some pretty good cricket in India. Michael Bevan played a superb knock in Goa, and proved that he was the best batsman in his position in the game. Bevan strengths are that he is quick to adapt, capable of finding the gaps and can also play the big shots when necessary. Another exceptional quality he has is his ability to score runs under pressure. All these qualities were on display in Goa during the decider. Matthew Hayden batted superbly for his century in the Vizag game. Till his series he has been in and out of the side in both forms of the game. In India, he has established his credentials as an opener, and it is now up to the selectors to decide whether he will open permanently in the limited overs games. He certainly has not done his chances any harm by winning the man of the series award. As soon as we won, I left a couple of messages at the players’ hotel. While I am yet to speak to any of them, I am sure they must have celebrated the win before setting off for Australia. Plenty has been written about the fact that there was no love lost between the teams, with Sourav Ganguly being targeted by sections of the media. I did not see anything unusual happening in the middle. Of course when you are playing international cricket, tempers do flare and things are said. I also think some aggression is good for Indian cricket, and may be it’s what the team needs right now. This does not mean I’m condoning sledging, but some show of aggression is necessary. The Indian captain has certainly succeeded in getting under the skin of the Australian Press, but I guess you can’t please everybody all the time. However, I’ve nothing personal against him and I’m sure he’s not too bothered by all the flak. Of course he should be careful about little things like being on time for the toss because when he is not, it’s seen as a sign of disrespect to the game. There are no hard feelings after the series and I think the tour was an excellent advertisement for cricket. It’s been the most exciting series I’ve played in for a long time with two competitive sides providing some excellent batting, bowling and catching. The one moment I will remember in the series is Harbhajan Singh getting the ball towards backward point and scrambling two runs. It was an anti-feeling to have to see that after we played so well on the fifth afternoon. To have come so close to winning and still lose was disappointing. Winning this series would have been an ideal lead-up to the Ashes. However, may be we needed to lose because it would make us hungry for victory again. We have just tasted defeat and we did not like it one bit, perhaps this is what will make us more eager to win in England. Gameplan |
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Fake tickets for Goa tie? Margao, April 8 The association’s main office in state capital Panaji as well as the camp office at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda here were sealed and summons were issued under Section 160 of Criminal Procedure Code to GCA secretary Vinod Phadke and its Treasurer Rama
Shankardas, asking them to present themselves for investigations today, police sources said. They said the police had also recorded the statement of contractor of the tickets Chinmay Falari who, on March 30, had alleged at a press conference that the Goa Cricket Association had allotted him lesser number of tickets than the quota of 17,300 which was ‘promised’ to him in the memorandum of understanding signed with the
GCA. Asked whether the needle of suspicion pointed towards the hosts of the one day international match, police sources said investigations were progressing ‘very fast’ and some concrete evidence could emerge in the next couple of days. The police also suspect that more than 25,000 fake tickets were in circulation. Meanwhile the Goa Football Association, which had temporarily handed over one of its three rooms to the GCA to organise the
one-dayer, also informed the authorities concerned that they had found a large number of “duplicate tickets” in the drawers of the furniture. The police is also investigating to trace the person who had left these tickets behind which have no bar-code inscribed on them and no visible monogram. However, a spokesman of the GCA clarified that the ‘tickets’ found in the camp office at the stadium were ‘specimen tickets’, which were to be pasted on the gate, and were not duplicate tickets as was being alleged. However, these specimen tickets could not be pasted as the police did not allow anyone to stay back at the stadium the previous night he alleged. This is not for the first time that the Goa Cricket Association
(GCA) is facing trouble over organising major sports events in the state. A similar controversy had erupted over the sale of alleged fake tickets during the one day international match between Indian and Sri Lanka in December 1997. The
GCA, which had hosted the deciding tie at Fatorda stadium, drew a lot of flak after alleged duplicate tickets led to over crowding the venue, as well as denial of entry to even those who possessed valid tickets and passes, which led to chaos outside the stadium, forcing the police to burst tear gas shells and resort to cane charge to disperse the unruly crowd. The South Goa District Administration is also looking into the complaints against the cricket association that it did not provide devices and other gadgets to detect duplicate tickets and passes, as they had announced earlier. However, a press release issued by the GCA late last night claimed that for the first time they had engaged a ‘private security’ to check bogus tickets at the entry point. Chief Minister Manohar
Parrikar, who was present at the stadium and witnessed the chaotic scenes on Friday, said the state government had taken the incident ‘very seriously’ and it would see to it that those involved in the fake ticket racket were brought to book.
UNI
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Sodhi puts Punjab back in
reckoning Chandigarh, April 8 The Punjab second innings was largely built on the solid foundations laid by Ravneet Ricky and Munish Sharma as they were involved in an opening stand of 97 runs. The real impetus to the innings, however, was provided by a solid stand of 164 runs between Reetinder Sodhi (89) and Pankaj Dharmani (77) which came in real quick time (143 minutes, 212 balls). Even though the Railway bowlers bowled on a negative line the duo managed to keep the scoreboard moving. The honours of the day belong to Reetinder Sodhi as he was largely instrumental in bringing Punjab back into the game with a flamboyant knock of 89 runs off 104 balls. Though he could have easily gone for his hundred, it was his desire to score runs at a quick pace for his team that finally cost him his wicket. Punjab resumed at their overnight score of six runs without loss. Since it was a do-or-die situation for Punjab both the overnight batsmen, Ravneet Ricky and Munish Sharma, scored runs freely. Munish was the first to reach his individual 50 which came in only 47 balls. At the other end Ricky gave him good support as the duo managed 91 runs in 16 overs in the first hour’s play. Their
stroke play was a clear indication that the Punjab team was on the lookout for quick runs to put the pressure on the visitors who would have to bat last. Ricky too completed his 50 off 100 deliveries with the help of four boundaries. Just when the Punjab team appeared to had a grip on the match, Munish was stumped down the leg side as he lost his balance. Wicketkeeper Abhey Sharma removed the bails in a flash as Munish’s back foot was not in the crease. Skipper Vikram Rathore and Ricky took the score to 148 when off spinner K. Parida bowled a straight delivery which took the outside edge of the bat of Ricky. His 151-minute stay at the crease fetched 54 runs. Rathore, who was not in his usual flamboyant style, was declared caught behind of the bowling off spinner Parida after he had scored just 31. His departure was a big blow for the Punjab squad. However, Pankaj Dharmani and Reetinder Sodhi took control of the innings at 159 for three. Whereas Pankaj played the sheet anchor role it was Sodhi who dominated the proceedings. Even though the bowlers were bowling on a negative line, Sodhi placed the ball neatly in the gaps to pick up quick runs. Sodhi completed his 50 in just 61 balls which included one six and four boundaries. It was largely due to this partnership that Punjab posted the 300 of the innings in the 74th over. In his endeavour to increase the run rate, Sodhi sacrificed his wicket in the interest of the team. After the fall of Sodhi’s wicket, Dharmani too got run out for his score of 77 off 142 balls. The Punjab tailenders once again failed to offer any resistance as the innings folded up for 356 runs, with an overall lead of 198 runs. The Railways openers Amit Pagnis (2) and Sanjay Bangar (1) successfully negotiated the two overs in the dying moments of the game. Scoreboard Punjab
(Ist innings): 249 Railways (ist innings): 407 Punjab (2nd innings):
Ranveet Ricky c A. Sharma b K. Parida 54; Munish Sharma st A. Sharma b Tejinder 61; Vikram Rathore c S. Bangar b K. Parida 31; Pankaj Dharmani run out 77; Reetinder Sodhi b Harvinder 89; Ankur Kakkar run out 3; Sanjay Mahajan c S. Bangar b Tejinder 1; Sandeep Sawal run 5; Gagandeep Singh c S. Bangar b Tejinder 3; Vineet Sharma not out 1; Babloo Kumar b K. Parida 1. Extras ( byes 17, leg byes 5, no balls 2, wides 6) 30 Total (in 88.2 overs) 356 Fall of wickets: 1-97, 2-148, 3-159, 4-323, 5-331, 6-336, 7-337, 8-350, 9-353 Bowling:
Harvinder 10-1-47-1, Tejinder 41-2-132-3, Zakir Hussain 3-0-21-0, S. Bangar 7-1-27-0,
A.K. Parida 21.2 -3-72-3, Yere Goud 6-0-35-0 Railway (2nd innigs): Amit Pagnis batting 2, Sanjay Bangar batting 1,
Total (in 2 overs) 3 for no loss Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 1-0-2-0, Reetinder Sodhi 1-0-1-0.
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JCT, FC Kochin evenly
matched Chandigarh, April 8 The following are the latest standings of the teams in the National Football League after taking into account the result of today’s match at Margao (read under teams,matches played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, and points): East Bengal 18 11 5 2 24 8 38 Mohun Bagan 18 10 5 3 35 18 35 FC Kochin 18 9 5 4 26 24 32 Churchill Bros 17 8 4 5 23 17 28 Vasco 16 5 9 2 9 10 24 Salgaocar 17 7 2 8 19 18 23 Tollygunge 17 4 8 5 9 12 20 Mahindras 18 4 6 8 13 19 18 Air-India 18 4 5 9 20 26 17 ITI 17 3 7 7 10 13 16 JCT 18 2 9 7 13 21 15 SBT 18 2 7 9 18 33 13 No doubt FC Kochin, currently placed third behind East Bengal and Mohun Bagan with 32 points, have been weakened by the absence of IM Vijayan and Joe Paul Ancheri who are doing national duty in India’s pre-World Cup campaign at Bangalore, yet the Kochi outfit, boasting of a few top-notch Liberians, are certainly no pushovers. Out of 18 matches played so far, FC Kochin have won nine and have drawn five. Four matches ended in defeat, including the last outing against Mohun Bagan at Kolkata on March 4. The Liberian recruits, who include Sunday Seah, Aaron Cole, Eugene Gray, Patrick Nuku, and Rasheedi Williams form an indispensable combination but Rashedi Williams will have to sit out tomorrow for having earned a red card in the previous match against Mohun Bagan. Of all the foreign recruits, it is Sunday Seah who is the cynosure of all eyes. With ten goals to his credit in the current league, Seah is the team’s highest scorer. What makes him stand out from the rest is his unique quality to perform a double role. He usually comes in as a goalkeeper in the first session and later bolsters the attack as a striker, which is perhaps the first such instance in Indian football. The experiment began under former coach T.K. Chathunny and the present incumbent AM Sreedharan has opted to continue with it. FC Kochin have so far tasted success against Salgaocar (3-2), Churchill Brothers (2-1), Air-India (2-1), SBT (4-1), Tollygunge (1-0), Mahindras (1-0), Air-India (2-1, away match), and Salgaocar (2-1, home match). They drew with Vasco 1-1, ITI 1-1, Mohun Bagan 2-2, East Bengal 0-0, and Tollygunge 1-1. The four defeats have come in the second leg. After losing to ITI 1-3 at Bangalore on March 17, FC Kochin lost to Vasco 0-1, Mahindras 0-4 , and Mohun Bagan 2-4. The Kochi outfit have so far scored 26 goals and have conceded 24.The team have Shibu Shanmugam in the goal, while Dinesh Nair, V.B. Santosh and C.K. Jitesh comprise the defence. Eugene Gray, K.A. Anson, M.A. Rajesh Kumar, and M.K. Sunil perform duties as link men. Liberians Sunday Seah and Aaron Cole will spearhead the attack and it remains to be seen how far they are successful against the sturdy JCT defence. JCT’s fortunes, of late, have certainly witnessed an upswing. The two victories against Mahindra United and State Bank of Travancore have boosted their morale after a lacklustre
showing in the first leg. Striker Hardip Gill is the mill men’s trumpcard who provides the finishing touches to intelligent moves by the laborious Jaswinder, Jaswant and Ram
Pal. With a sturdy defence manned by Tarsem Lal, Ranjit Singh, and Daljit to bank upon and former internationals Parminder Singh and Inder Singh providing all the inspiration, JCT may spring yet another surprise on the morrow. The kick off is at 4 p.m. |
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Campbell’s ton lifts Zimbabwe Harare, April 8 And they must do so to level the series which Zimbabwe currently lead 1-0. Campbell’s 100 came in 142 balls and he was out for 103, caught on the boundary trying to celebrate the ton with a six. He hit eight fours and a six. Zimbabwe closed on 230 for seven with Stuart Carlisle playing a significant supporting role with 56. They put on 133 for the second wicket. Zimbabwe lost wickets in a runs dash later, some of them with reckless abandon. They left Bangladesh with a formidable but reachable target on a good batting wicket but with a slow outfield to contend with. Zimbabwe innings: Campbell c Al-Sharir b Islam 103 G.Whittall c Islam b Sharif 16 Carlisle c Masud b Islam 56 Blignaut c Rafique b Islam 13 Streak c Hossain b Sharif 15 A. Flower c Omar b Sharif 6 G. Flower run out 0 Ebrahim not out 5 Viljoen not out 0 Extras (lb-10, nb-1, w-5) 16 Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 230 Fall of wicket: 1-49, 2-182, 3-188, 4-211, 5-218, 6-220, 7-229. Bowling:
Monjurul Islam 10-0-37-3, Mohammad Sharif 10-0-48-3, Mushfiqur Rahman 10-2-29-0, Mehrab Hossain 2-0-18-0, Mohammad Rafique 10-0-44-0, N. Rahman 8-0-44-0. |
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West Indies all out for
140
St John’s (Antigua), April 8 Accurate and aggressive fast bowling plunged the West Indies into deep trouble by close of play yesterday. They faced the prospect of trailing on the first innings as well as having to bat last on a pitch expected to deteriorate. South Africa reduced the West Indies to 50 for three, then struck three more blows in the late afternoon. Ramnaresh Sarwan fell to a trap for the second time in the series when he hooked Jacques Kallis to square leg after making 25. Then the recalled Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who seemed set to take his innings into the third day, was brilliantly caught at slip by a diving Daryll Cullinan for 40. He was the second big scalp for all-rounder Justin Kemp, playing in place of the injured Allan Donald. Kemp earlier had Brian Lara, whose world Test record 375 was made on the same ground, caught in the covers for 19. Kemp finished the day with two for 17 off eight overs. Chanderpaul, who did not play in the first three Tests because he was not considered match fit after recovering from an injury, started cautiously but was looking in good form shortly before his dismissal. A bad day for the West Indies ended when nightwatchman Mervyn Dillon was bowled by a Lance Klusener offcutter. West Indian captain Carl Hooper remained unbeaten on 16. He and Ridley Jacobs will be the main hopes of enabling the West Indies to get close to South Africa’s total after the tourists were sent in by Hooper. The West Indies could have been in worse trouble if Kemp had not been no-balled when Sarwan edged a catch to Cullinan at first slip before he had scored. Chris Gayle was caught at gully by South African captain Shaun Pollock off Kallis for 11 before Pollock had Hinds caught behind for 9. Lara slashed a six over fourth slip off Makhaya Ntini before he drove Kemp into the covers where Neil McKenzie held a diving catch. Sarwan had his escape in Kemp’s next over and was dropped on 2 when he gave a sharp chance to Gary Kirsten at short leg off Ntini. Earlier, Pollock was left stranded on 48 as Dillon bowled Kemp and Ntini with successive balls to end the South African innings. Pollock and left-hander Nicky Boje continued their eighth wicket stand in cautious style after resuming on 210 for seven. Only four runs were scored in seven overs in the first 25 minutes of play before Boje hit left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell for a straight
six. The Pollock-Boje stand was worth 75 when Boje was given out lbw to Walsh by umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan although replays showed the ball pitched outside leg stump. Scoreboard South Africa (Ist innings): (overnight 210-7) Kirsten c Dillon b McGarrell 8 Gibbs c Jacobs b Hooper 85 Kallis b Dillon 5 Cullinan c Lara b Ramnarine 4 McKenzie c Jacobs b McGarrell 35 Klusener lbw b McGarrell 0 Boucher c Gayle b McGarrell 1 Pollock not out 48 Boje lbw b Walsh 36 Kemp b Dillon 16 Ntini b Dillon 0 Extras: (b-2 lb-5 nb-2) 9 Total:
(all out) 247 Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-35, 3-53, 4-120, 5-126, 6-136, 7-148, 8-223, 9-247. Bowling:
Walsh 31-14-45-1, Dillon 18.2-4-48-3, McGarrell, 43-19-72-4, Ramnarine 20-6-44-1, Hooper 10-2-31-1. West Indies (first innings) C.Gayle c Pollock b Kallis 11 W.Hinds c Boucher b Pollock 9 S.Chanderpaul c Cullinan b
Kemp 40 B.Lara c McKenzie b Kemp 19 R.Sarwan c Boje b Kallis 25 C.Hooper c Kirsten b Klusener 17 M.Dillon b Klusener 0 R.Jacobs not out 3 N.McGarrell lbw b Klusener 0 D.Ramnarine run out 2 C.Walsh lbw b Pollock 4 Extras: (b-3 lb-3 nb-4) 10 Total:
(all out) 140 Fall of wickets: 1-13 2-21 3-50 4-88 5-126 6-127 7-132 8-134 9-136 Bowling: Pollock 22.1-11-25-2 (2nb), Kallis 17-8-24-2, Ntini 6-2-27-0, Kemp 8-2-17-2 (2nb), Boje 12-4-26-0, Klusener 11-4-15-3. Kemp could have been given out to the next ball, however, but survived. Kemp, in his second Test, helped Pollock add 24 runs before he tried to turn Dillon to the legside and had his offstump knocked out of the ground. Ntini played a similar shot to the next ball with the same result.
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Tiger Woods wrests lead Augusta (Georgia), April 8 But Woods, on the brink of perhaps the most spectacular accomplishment in golf history, characterized his third-round 68 as “plodding,” and even the string of three birdies in a row from the 13th failed to elicit fist-pumping excitement. They were enough, however, to vault him to the top of the leaderboard on 12-under 204, one stroke in front of world No 2 Phil Mickelson. Mickelson, seeking his first major title, shrugged off a double-bogey at the 14th to close with two birdies en route to a 69 for 205. He was one in front of 1989 British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia, who carded a 68, and Masters newcomer Chris Dimarco. DiMarco, the surprise leader of both the first and second rounds, played in the last group with Woods and shot an even-par 72. A further shot back on 207 came two-time US Open champion Ernie Els of South Africa, former world No 1 David Duval, and unheralded Argentinian Angel Cabrera. Cabrera, playing his second Masters, and DiMarco, just wouldn’t go away through the first half of the round. “The putts I had starting out the day, it seemed like every putt broke about 10 ft,” said woods, who saved par at the third from a snug stance under a tree. “It was just one of those days where I didn’t hit it that close, until I got to seven.” Woods picked up his first birdie there, but at that point still trailed DiMarco. “I didn’t really do anything great,” Woods insisted. “Just plodded along. Missed a few fairways, got the ball on the green, make a putt if I could. If I didn’t just two-putt and move on.” But as the infamous back nine at Augusta National began to take it’s toll, Woods’ plodding proved to be enough. “I understand what the danger is out there,” he said of his decision to keep his head down and avoid any attempt at heroics. “If you slip up just a little bit...” That’s what happened to Cabrera, who hit into the water at 15 and took double bogey, then dropped another shot at the last. Woods himself bogeyed the par-three 12th, sailing his eight-iron off the tee long when the wind died down suddenly. “Then I wanted to putt the next one, but there was a sprinkler head in my line. Then I’m in a sandy lie, I’m thinking I could play this ball in the water. I kind of fatted it up on the green, yipped the putt to the right and tapped it in — good four.” His three birdies from 13 were just more of the same with a better result, Woods said. “Thirteen I hit two good shots, hit a really good putt, didn’t go in,” he said. “Fourteen again, two good shots, this time converted. Fifteen, I hit two good shots into the green, went just over the back, tough chip. “I kind of hook-spun it in there to about 2 ft and made that.” “He birdied 13, 14 and 15 and I played them one-over. That was the difference,” said DiMarco, who bogeyed 15. Nevertheless, his advantage was compounded by DiMarco’s bogey at the par-five 15th. Els carded what he called a workmanlike 68 for a nine-under total of 207. “I must be pleased with my round today, I did what I wanted to do — shoot something under 70. The front nine I made two birdies and a bogey, and I really just played solid golf.” Mickelson, looking ahead to his final round pairing with Woods, said it might be time that Woods start sharing the majors after his victories in the 2000 US Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Woods, however, didn’t seem to be in a particularly sharing mood. “I’m think more than anything I’m in a competing mood,” he said. However, he said there were others besides Mickelson to be wary of. “You can’t go out and think it’s just Phil and myself,” Woods said. “If you look at that board there’s some guys who’ve won some serious tournaments around the world. “I’m just going to go out there with the intent of trying to keep the ball in play and put it on the green so I have, hopefully, some uphill putts.”
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Seniors plotted
my ouster: Miandad Islamabad, April 8 “I hate to say this but some of the senior players held secret meetings till in the evenings. There were also those who discouraged the junior boys,” Miandad was quoted as saying by a local newspaper here. Laying the responsibility for the New Zealand debacle on the players, he said, “Nobody was willing to listen to me. How can you explain a player who hits out in the deep when the team is seven down with 18 overs remaining? How can you explain a player, who, despite being told to stay calm and play a long innings, gets out to a big hit as soon as he reaches his 50. “I know what was happening. I now want the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) to hold an internal inquiry.
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Netherlands, Sweden
in semis Paris, April 8 In the other quarterfinal ties, Pat Rafter, who was forced to retire injured from his singles match on Friday, returned to partner Lleyton Hewitt in a straight-sets victory over Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten and Jaime Oncins to give Australia a 2-1 lead, and Switzerland forced the tie with France into a third day by winning their doubles rubber. Even a depleted Dutch team proved too much for Germany in Den Bosch as the duo of Paul Haarhuis and Sjeng Schalken beat David Prinosil and Jens Knippschild 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to put the match beyond doubt. The Dutch were upbeat going into the tie having hammered holders Spain 4-1 in the last round. In the absence of top-ranked player Richard Krajicek they had to rely in Friday’s singles on Jan Siemerink, 83rd in the ATP rankings, who beat Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-3 and 102nd-ranked Raemon Sluiter who beat Prinosil 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3). Sweden will face either Brazil or Australia in the semifinals.
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Baroda 409
for 9
Baroda, April 8 Baroda (first innings): 568 all out Orissa (first innings): 280 Baroda (second innings): (overnight 69 for one) Satyajit Parab c and b D. Mohanty 56, Conor Willims c R.R. Parida b S. Raul 11, Himanshu Jadhav b S. Satpathy 78, Jacob Martin c S. Kumar b S. Raul 36, Tushar Arothe c G. Gopal b A. Barik 62, N. Mongia c G. Gopal b P. Mallick 53, A. Bhoite c A. Barik b D. Mohanty 45, R. Patel c G. Gopal b A. Barik 15, V. Buch batting 25, I. Pathan (jr) lbw P. Jayachandra 4, I. Pathan (sr) batting 8. Extras: (b 8, lb 2, nb 4, w 2) 16 Total: 409 for nine wickets Fall of wickers:
1/42, 2-88, 3-152, 4-241, 5-289, 6-321, 7-368, 8-368, 9-390 Bowling: Debashis Mohantry 16-9-33-2, Ajay Barik 20-5-71-2, Sanjay Raul 23-6-70-2, P. Jaychandra 16-6-46-1, J. Das 9-4-30-0, S. Satpathy 20-2-97-1, S.S. Das 1-0-5-0, P. Mallick 9-1-47-1.
PTI
Patiala, April
8 The tournament is being organised by the DCW Sports, Culture and Welfare Club.! Brief scores: NICS Cricket Academy: 321 for 6 (Navjot Matharoo 141 n.o., Ishpreet 75, Rahul Sharma 30, Vikram 13, Narinder 3 for 59). KV-2: 135 all out (Kapil 36, Mukesh 14, Ramneet 15, Vikas 14, Gurpreet Sahani 3 for 35, Tanmeet Bawa 3 for 32 and Simran 2 for 19). |
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