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Sunday,
May 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Wang Nan claims
singles title India ‘will win’ Test,
one-day series Impressive haul by ex-skipper Wasim
Akram Kallis hits century
against Windies |
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Tyson keen on early
fight with Rahman
Chima assaults
lensman Morocco brighten World Cup
hopes Muralitharan shines Football
meet Under-16 cricket
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Wang Nan claims singles title Osaka, May 5 Chinese duo Wang Liqin and Yan Sen also won the men’s doubles event today, beating compatriots Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang 21-11 21-12 21-18 in the final. With Wang and Kong competing in
tomorrow's singles final, six of seven gold medals have now fallen to the all-powerful ping pong giant. The gold medal for Wang, who defeated yet another compatriot, Lin Ling, 14-21 21-12 21-12 21-19 in the final, was one of the more predictable results in world sport given her current domination of women’s table tennis. The game Wang lost to Lin en route to victory was the only one the top seed conceded in all seven rounds of competition. However Lin, seeded 11 and who had never previously go beyond the last 32 of the women’s draw, played well, trading smashes with her
opponent and making Wang work hard to take the decisive fourth game. After the final Wang, also the Olympic champion, agreed she “did very well in the tournament”. Accepting that the Chinese players were now by far the best in the world, Wang said this was because of the hard work and training they had put in. Lin said she played well, but accepted she “had problems dealing with key points”. “I was filled with fighting spirit. I think I played my best through the game, I do not feel regret,” she said. With a day of the two-week tournament to go the somewhat lonely figures of Akiko Takeda and Mayu Kawagoe, Japan’s hopes among three Chinese duos in tomorrow’s women’s doubles semi-finals, are all that can stop a repeat of China’s Sydney Olympics table tennis gold glut. Already men’s and women’s team champions, China had taken the mixed doubles event yesterday. Few would bet against the mixed doubles also going the way of China, which has turned the entire championships into one long victory parade for its production line of young talent. In the men’s semifinals today world number one Wang saw off Taiwan’s Chiang Peng-Lung 3-0, and is surely a strong bet for his first world individual gold. Wang, 22, admitted he had felt pressure to secure the men’s singles gold for his country. “I knew that if I beat him China would win the title,” he said. He will play second-seeded Kong, who defeated third-ranked countryman Ma Lin in the other semifinal.
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India ‘will win’ Test, one-day series Kolkata, May 5 India will play a two-match Test series and a limited-over tournament, in which West Indies will be the third side, in Zimbabwe from May end. “I am sure the Indian team will continue with its form and return from Zimbabwe on a winning note,” Ganguly told newspersons here yesterday. The recent Test series victory against Australia has given the team a great deal of confidence, he said. “We have won the series at home and now we want to win one outside the country as well,” Ganguly said. The Indian captain sounded very confident about the India’s batting prowess and termed it as “one of the best in the world now.” He hinted that he would prefer to have five seamers in the team as the wicket there would suit the pacemen better. “Our fast bowlers will have an important role to play and they are expected to get some assistance from the conditions,” he added. Ganguly pointed out that there would be some grass on the wickets in Zimbabwe, but it would be less than what they had against Bangladesh recently. “If they keep more grass on the wicket, it won’t help them much as our bowlers are also quite capable of extracting benefit out of it. But we still have to improve further in the bowling department,” he added. Besides bowling which needed more attention, the Indian skipper also expressed concern about wicket-keeping. “We are looking for a wicket-keeper who can bat well,” the Southpaw said. The Indian selectors have included three players in the list of probables — Samir Dighe of Mumbai, Ajay Ratra of Haryana and Deep Dasgupta of Bengal — for wicket-keeper’s slot in the team visiting Zimbabwe. However, Sourav admitted that it would not be easy to beat Zimbabwe at their home turf. “We would decide about our strategy for the Zimbabwe tour when we all meet at Bangalore for the camp, like we did against Australia. We first ask all the players for their opinions. Then the seniors in the team would jointly discuss and chalk out the plan,” he added. Ganguly said he had already discussed with team coach John Wright and vice-captain Rahul Dravid about the camp where special emphasis would be given on physical fitness and fielding.
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Impressive haul by ex-skipper Wasim Akram London, May 5 Akram, who has denied Press reports that captain Waqar Younis wanted him left out of the squad, provided the rapier yesterday as Pakistan dismissed the students for just 74 while Saeed Anwar quickly pressed home the advantage with a flashing 89 to leave the tourists on 224-4 at close. The evergreen Akram, who enjoyed many successful seasons with Lancashire, is struggling to persuade Younis, who fell out badly with Wasim in 1993 when he led a player coup against him, that he should be his newball partner for the two match Test series. On Thursday Waqar, who in partnership with, Wasim has taken over 700 Test wickets, had refused to be drawn on whether he would be opening the bowling with him. “This time its about cricket,” he said. “Whatever we had between us is in the past,” he added. However, Wasim’s performance left team coach Richard Pybus purring with admiration. “He was not bowling against international players, but he looked very sharp and showed all his old skill,” he said. “It was fantastic to watch on a day when none of our bowlers was going to go mad in cold, early-season weather,” added Pybus, who guided Pakistan to the 1999 World Cup final and has returned for a second spell in the hotseat. Reflecting on a day that also saw Younis pick up three wickets as well as some encouraging work from young pace bowler Mohammad Sami, Pybus acknowledged Wasim was probably most at home in the cooler climate. “It was probably easier for Wasim this morning than it was for Waqar and Sami, because a lot of their rhythm bowling would be better suited to warmer weather — and they were not going to get carried away out there,” said Pybus, although Waqar did play for Surrey for several seasons. Pybus had sympathy for Sami, who clearly has exceptional pace, but was non-plussed initially by the amount of swing he could get in English conditions. “It is a learning process for him, and I don’t think he could believe how much it was swinging this morning,” he said. “But if you’ve got Wasim and Waqar standing at mid-off and mid-on when you are bowling, you are not going to get much better advice than that,” he added.
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Kallis hits century against Windies
St George’s, may 5 Kallis was out for 107 and Jonty Rhodes contributed 47 after South Africa had been put in to bat at Queen’s Park. Kirsten scored 50 for the first time since his century in the first Test in Guyana but was run out immediately afterwards. He hit the ball in the direction of Chris Gayle at point and set off for a single but was caught well short of his ground at the non-striker’s end by a direct hit. Kirsten’s 50 came off 65 balls and included seven fours. Earlier, Herschelle Gibbs struck 46 off 48 balls, with two sixes and four fours. He was out as he pulled across the line at left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell, Ricardo Powell taking a fine catch at mid-wicket. Kallis and Rhodes rotated the strike intelligently, frustrating the West Indians with some aggressive running between the wickets. West Indies captain Carl Hooper was the only bowler who managed to keep the scoring down. Kallis reached his second consecutive one-day 50 in the 35th over after facing 66 balls and hitting three fours. Reuters SCOREBOARD South Africa G. Kirsten run out 50 H. Gibbs c Powell b McGarrell 46 J. Kallis c & b Gayle 107 J. Rhodes b Hooper 47 L. Klusener not out 25 S. Pollock not out 1 Extras (lb-5 w-4 nb-2) 11 Total (for four wickets, 50 overs) 287 Fall of wickets: 1-88 2-129 3-219 4-286 Bowling: Dillon 6-0-43-0 (2nb 1w), Cuffy 10-0-54-0, McGarrell 10-0-60-1 (2w), Hooper 10-1-32-1, Samuels 9-0-61-0 (1w), Gayle 5-0-32-1. West Indies Gayle c Kirsten b Pollock 1 Powell c Ntini b Pollock 15 Chanderpaul c Dippenaar b Pollock 16 Lara b Ntini 31 Hooper batting 17 Samuels batting 1 Total (in 20 overs) 88 for 4 (Scoreboard incomplete) |
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Tyson keen on early fight with Rahman New York, May 5 Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis in the fifth round on April 21 in South Africa. “The action I took was not something that i wanted to do but needed to do,” Tyson said in a statement yesterday. “There are people trying to abuse the system to prevent me from an opportunity to fight the new heavyweight champion.” There was a rematch clause in the Rahman-Lewis contract, and Lewis contends Rahman should fight no one else before he fights him. HBO, which has a contract with Lewis, wants the rematch to be held in September. When Rahman won, he inherited a WBC mandatory defence, which would be against Tyson, who is the WBC’s No.1 contender. Shelly Finkel, Tyson’s advisor, said the suit seeks to make the WBC conform to its rules, which, he said, forbids an automatic rematch. Tyson is scheduled to fight David Izon on June 2 at Washington DC on Showtime, which has a contract with Tyson. The Izon fight would be cancelled should Tyson get a shot at Rahman. “I have nothing but respect for Mr Rahman and his recent accomplishments,” Tyson said. “He has publicly stated that he wants to fight me next. Rahman vs Tyson is the fight the public most wants to see. I hope this helps clear the path for us to meet very soon.”
AP
New York, May 5 In either case, the bout is expected to be on August 18, probably in Las Vegas, Cedric Kushner said. Kushner would not disclose the terms of the offers for Rahman’s defence of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles he won when he knocked out Lewis in the fifth round last month in South Africa. “I hope to have (Rahman) come to New York today to discuss the proposals,” Kushner said, adding that “there absolutely will not be any statement” today. “I presented the proposals early yesterday morning to Stan Hoffman, the manager of Hasim Rahman,” Kushner said. “I don’t tell the fighter what to do.” Kathy Duva, the head of Lewis’s U.S. promotion company Main Events, said on Friday that Rahman would receive $10-15 million for the first defence of his titles. Duva insists that Rahman is obliged under the terms of his contract with Lewis to give the Briton a return match before fighting anyone else. Kushner insists that Rahman can take an interim fight before giving Lewis a chance to win back his titles. But if Rahman decides to fight Tyson there is a possibility of litigation. Neither Duva or Kushner would confirm a London newspaper report that Rahman had been offered $ 14 million to fight Lewis next and $15 million to take on Tyson. “We’re very optimistic we’re going to make the deal for Lewis,” said Duva. The two main pay-per-view cable television companies, HBO and Showtime, are negotiating with Kushner to broadcast Rahman’s next fight. HBO has Lewis under a long-term contract and Showtime is Tyson’s cable network. The fighters’ allegiances to rival broadcasters was the main reason why a Lewis-Tyson fight was not made when Lewis was the champion. Rahman has no ties to either broadcaster. Referring to HBO not signing him before he fought Lewis, Rahman was quoted earlier this week by his hometown newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, as saying “They had an arrogance about their fighter and now they have a hefty price to pay.” The Baltimore Sun reported that promoter Don King had offered Rahman $ 15 million to fight King’s man, John Ruiz, the holder of the World Boxing Association (WBA) title, who is considered a relatively minor championship these days. “If Don King doesn’t comment on a situation he has no involvement in he doesn’t sleep well,” Kushner told Reuters. “It’s none of his business and he doesn’t need to put his two cents in.”
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Dokic prevails over Vicario Hamburg, May 5 Though the 18-year old, who reverted back to her Yugoslav citizenship earlier this year revoking her Australian passport, made a disastrous start and appeared to be heading towards defeat yesterday, she pulled her game together after double-faulting for the fifth time to lose the opening set. Hitting the ball far more positively, she broke the 29-year old Spaniard twice to lead 3-0, and then kept her nerve as the number four seed fought her way to take the set to a tiebreak. That went Dokic’s way, and in the deciding set she always looked the more confident player. Breaking for 3-1 and then again for the match, she tied up an unlikely victory in 2hr 8min. “Right now I’m probably playing better than I ever have,” said a delighted Dokic. “I’ve been working hard on clay, and I had an ambition not to lose to her again. “If it had been on grass I would have had more chance than on red clay and it was really heavy conditions today, but just fighting out there got me through it.” Having lost her last three matches to Sanchez-Vicario, Dokic admitted she was nervous at the start. “It was very cold, and I think I was a little bit tight as well,” she said. “I just couldn’t get any rhythm and that’s where I lost the set. “I attacked a lot more and was more aggressive after that. I made a lot more shots, and although she got back I think it was a different story in the second set. The points were a lot longer,” she added. While Williams claimed an easy 6-1, 6-1 win over Italy’s Sylvia Farina Elia, and seventh seeded American Meghann Shaughnessy beat Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4, second seed Amanda Coetzer had a real struggle to fight off Justine Henin. Coetzer held a point to lead 4-0 before the sixth seeded Belgian fought her way into the match and then broke to serve for the first set at 5-4. But Coetzer responded by breaking her to love and also winning the next two games to claim the set. Henin edged the second set, but the 29-year-old South African gained the breakthrough in the decider with a crosscourt forehand winner to lead 4-2. “I started off well and took the ball early and didn’t give her a lot of time, and then she started to hit the ball a little bit deeper and I couldn’t play the same game,” said Coetzer”.
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Sasikiran, Kunte triumph Colombo, May 5 For top seed Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran, it was testing time of his opening repertoire as he played the king pawn opening much to the surprise of his opponent Taibur Rahman. But Rahman was holding his own comfortably in a closed Sicilian game until the pressure undid him. “I just managed to win,’’ was all that India No. 2 Sasikiran could say after the game. Both his father and mother were present among spectators hooting for their illustrious son. Pune-based Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte cruised comfortably towards win against Bangladesh’s Abu Safin Shakil. Coming out with equally quick wins were S.S. Ganguly and Enamul Hossain over Laxman Wijayasurya and D.R. Peiris, respectively. Calcutta-based Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua had his hands full against local star Amarawickrama who consumed too much of time and fell short by four moves when his flag fell. It was anybody’s game, wherein Barua couldn’t make a big headway into the Sri Lankan original play. But the reduced time control effect helped Barua. Only Indians to lose their games on the first day were I.M.D.V Prasad and Saheli Barua. Prasad started very badly against the enterprising Bangladesh IM Reefat Bin Sattar, losing the advanced French game in 43 moves. “Prasad’s eleventh move allowing ‘h5’ was a mistake. I almost messed it up in the time pressure, but managed to squeeze the point in a pawn up ending,’’ said a relieved Sattar. S. Meenakshi scored a fine win over Saheli Barua in a technical queenside attack. Holding fort till the middle game, Saheli allowed white queen’s foray into her territory after which Meenakshi made no mistake. Sensing trouble, Saheli went for a kingside encore but was found wanting. Saheli’s flag fell when she was two moves short. There were two different rook blunders that gave Pallavi Shah and Vijayalakshmi full point in an advantageous position. Also finishing on the winning side after the opener were Swati Ghate and Vineta Vijayasurya. It was a time pressure mistake by veteran Rani Hamid of Bangladesh that gave Swati the advantage of a full piece, which she patiently converted to score her first point of the event.
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Asia cup badminton
Singapore, May 5 But while the Koreans raced into tomorrow’s final, ending Thailand’s fairytale run with a quick 2-0 victory, China were made to fight for every point as they outstayed Indonesia with each match going the full three games. It was a remarkable comeback by a side beaten by rank outsiders Thailand in the opening round, and their success lay in fine singles play by Chen Hong and Chen Yu. “I expected a good fight but to defeat Indonesia is very exciting for us,” said Chinese team coach Zhong Bo after Chen Yu beat Hendrawan 15-12 in the deciding third game of the final match. “I have always regarded Chen Yu as a good singles player. I think he just needed some time to regain his confidence after his loss in the decisive singles match against Thailand.” China, the second seeds in the $ 170,000 tournament were humbled 1-2 by lowly ranked Thailand in the first round. But they made the best of starts against Indonesia with Chen Hong staving off six match points in the second game before beating Taufik Hidayat 9-15 17-16 15-12 for his first win ever over the world number three. Olympic gold medallist Candra Wijaya, reunited with former partner Sigit Budiarto recovered from a poor start to level the scores for Indonesia with a 4-15 15-6 17-15 victory over Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun in the doubles. When it came to the decider, Chen Yu pulled through against the more experienced Indonesian Hendrawan, winning 12-15 15-9 15-12. “I knew he would make me run around the court. But when the match went into the third game, I felt I had a good chance as Hendrawan had begun to tire as well and made too many mistakes, trying to finish the points early,” Chen said. South Korea expected a tough challenge from the marauding Thais who were pulled into the tournament at the last minute to replace India and then immediately scalped China and Malaysia in the group league games. But it was only the first game of the opening singles that had the Koreans under pressure. Boonsak Polsana came from 11-14 down to take the first game 17-16 against the Korean number one Lee Hyun II. That was the end of the Thai resistance as the left-handed Lee waltzed through the next two games 15-4, 1 -11. In the doubles, Yoo Yong Sung and Chung Jae Sung had too many shots in their arsenal for Pramote Teerwawitana and Tesana Panvisvas, scoring a 15-8 15-12 victory to seal the match. With China and Korea in the final it ensures a new holder of the Asia Cup, after the first two tournaments were both won by Indonesia, beating Malaysia in the final both times. Korea had lost in the semi-finals in both 1997 and 1999.
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Chima assaults lensman Kolkata, May 5 As per the FIR lodged by the lensman of ‘Pratidin’ Okerie beat him up in an office in the central part of the city where the Nigerian had reportedly gone to negotiate with Tollygunge Agragami officials for donning the club’s jersey next season. Okerie also broke his camera by throwing it on the floor before leaving the place in a huff, the FIR said. The lensman later lodged a complaint at the Bowbazar police station. Okerie, regarded as one of the most lethal strikers in the Kolkata maidan, is currently under suspension by the Indian Football Association for manhandling referee Bikash Mukherje at the Salt Lake Stadium last year.
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Morocco brighten World Cup hopes Algiers, May 5 Morocco maintained their unbeaten record and now head group C with 12 points from six matches, three points ahead of Senegal who meet Egypt on Sunday in Cairo. Algeria are languishing in fourth position on four points. The Algerians were the first to threaten a goal when Rafik Essaifi hit the bar with a header in the third minute. Five minutes later, striker Abdelhafid Tasfaout gave the home side the lead with a powerful shot from just outside the box. Morocco, missing playmaker Mustapha Hajji, equalised eight minutes later through Rachid Benmahmoud after the Algerian defence failed to clear the ball from the penalty area after a free kick. The visitors struck again two minutes into the second half when a long cross by Gharib Amzine took goalkeeper Hisham Mezair by surprise and went into the upper left corner of the net. Four minutes later Morocco had a third goal disallowed for offside. The top team in each of the African groups qualifies directly for the 2002 finals in South Korea and Japan.
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Muralitharan shines London, May 5 While he only took one wicket, he was in miserly form and conceded just seven runs from his 10 overs yesterday to set up his county for a 10-wicket triumph and a much needed win after two defeats in their previous matches. Openers Mike Atherton and Mark Chiltern made 77 and 42 respectively as they rattled off the runs in double quick time. Australian duo Michael Hussey and Jeffrey Cook rescued Northamptonshire’s Cup campaign with superb batting performances in a seven-wicket triumph over Warwickshire. Hussey made a brilliant 93 from just 111 balls and Cook continued where his fellow left-hander left off with an 86 that took the home side to within touching distance of the visitors’ total of 263 for seven. Northants desperately needed this win after losing to Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, but they did themselves few favours by dropping Nick Knight early on as he went on to smash a brilliant 101.
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Football
meet Chandigarh, May 5 To be organised by the Chandigarh Football Association, this 10-day championship will feature teams from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Services, Delhi and hosts Chandigarh. Chandigarh will play their first match against Himachal Pradesh on May 7. In the opening tie to be played tomorrow at 4.30 pm, defending champions Punjab will take on Delhi. According to Mr Rakesh Bakshi, secretary of the CFA, the players
have been lodged at the sports complex, Sector 42. He said this was the fifth major football event being conducted by the association in the past four years. Mr J.S. Ahluwalia, IRS and Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, will inaugurate the championship.
Patiala, May 5 Brief scores: Fatehgarh Sahib : 93 all out (Sunil Kumar 41, Shiv Kumar 4 for 11 and Bhanu Partap 3 for 13). Patiala: 94 for 1 (Kamalpreet 50 n.o., Rahul Sharma 35 and Manpreet 1 for 21). |
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