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| Tuesday,
June 12, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
AAFI to enforce
code of conduct Saurav Ganguly writes England upbeat despite loss |
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Anand records rare hat-trick
of wins Indian eves draw hockey series against
Kiwis
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Machine may spot
no-balls Fencer alleges
harassment Teamwork led to victory : coach
Babita, Deepak win
titles Grapplers third Harkamal wins
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AAFI to enforce code of conduct Bangalore, June 11 The code of conduct will also be applicable to the President, the secretary and the treasurer of the federation, AAFI secretary Lalit Bhanot told newspersons after the annual general meeting here. The code of conduct was adopted with minor modifications at the meeting, chaired by Vice-President A.K. Banerjee in the absence of President Suresh Kalmadi, he added. He said the President could not attend the meeting as he was in Africa in connection with the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in New Delhi from November 3-11. While the meeting ratified the Dr P.K. Tandon committee report on the poor performance of the Indian athletes in the Sydney Olympics, it virtually skirted the responsibility for ratifying the three controversial records established last year. The meeting also finalised the calendar for the year 2002-2003. The code fixes responsibility on the coaches for the failure of the athletes to live upto their reputation and for the wards taking performance-enhancing drugs. It virtually gags the
athletes from airing their views to the press freely. The boards and associations violating the code would be liable for disqualification for one year. The associations fielding more than three average athletes in a year would attract disqualification under the code. Mr Bhanot said the executive committee could take action against the office bearers in the event of a failure. However, the same had to be ratified by the AGM, he added. The federation has decided to field a team for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester to be held between July 25 and August 4, 2002. The priority before the federation were the Afro-Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Pusan Asian Games next year. The qualification marks would be followed before picking the team. He said the meeting ratified the Tandon committee report, which blamed the lack of adequate competition exposure and delaying of Asian championships as the cause for the poor performance of the athletes in Sydney. However, the meeting decided to form a small committee on the contentious records in shot put (Shakti Singh), 100 m (Rachita Mistry) and 200 m (Vinita Tripathy). The committee was expected to submit its report in a day or two. The other records were ratified by the meeting, he added. It may be recalled that many veteran athletes and administrators had expressed concern over the spate of records being broken in a short period. The federation had made dope tests mandatory. The meeting, which went through a heavy agenda, also agreed for several other changes, including adopting the federation rules instead of the rules of the International Amateur Athletic Federation. Mr Bhanot said the federation would consider the request for creating a North- East Zone. A committee has been constituted to look into the demand and it was expected to submit its report in three months. The meeting had decided to field a separate team for ATF in the wake of the Olympics experience. On an experimental basis for a year, it was also decided to allow fielding of three athletes instead of two in the senior national meets. Even in the junior Federation Cup, the states could send in three entries instead of two. In the field events, the number of attempts have been reduced. Instead of six attempts, the athletes would have four now. In the under-14 section, pentathlon would be replaced by triathlon as it was felt that it would too taxing on them. It was also decided to reduce the load and specialisation. He said a seminar would be held at the Sports Authority of India Southern Centre for chief coaches of all the states on July 1 to 2. Most of the states had appointed coaches to comply with the code of conduct and they would be briefed about the policies and philosophy of the federation. A technical committee meeting also would be held, he added.
UNI |
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Saurav Ganguly writes Sunday’s win in Bulawayo was a perfect start to the Test series. Winning a Test outside the subcontinent for the first time in 15 years was indeed most satisfying, though it is indeed rather difficult to believe that we had not won abroad for so many years. I have been part of the Test team for around five-and-a-half years and there have been situations from where we should have won. We had our chances in South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand, but we were never quite able to pull it off. Whether one calls it bad luck or poor application, an away win always eluded us. In fact, we were in a similar situation in Zimbabwe during our last tour but lost due to poor shot selection during our run chase. Anyway, that’s all in the past now and it was a very comforting feeling last evening after the Test to know that we finally have managed to win abroad. I was a little nervous the night before because I did not want us to falter at the doorstep again, like on so many earlier occasions. It was one of the most tense nights I’ve had in my Test career. However, on the fourth morning the boys were very keen and looked determined to remove the three remaining wickets. This was important because we knew that anything above 200 would have been a psychological barrier. I as a captain had a lot of faith in this team especially after the way we won from difficult situations in the last series, and I gathered a lot of confidence from those wins. The body language was different when we walked out on Sunday morning and the determination was very evident. Both Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan bowled quick spells and dismissed the remaining Zimbabweans for around 25 runs. It was a great start to the day, but I knew that the first 15 overs of our batting would be crucial. The start had to be good not just in terms of runs but also in terms of playing out the new ball, because the surface was still affording plenty of bounce and carry. Therefore Das and Ramesh had not only to get us off to a good start, they also had to try and take the shine off the ball. I think they succeeded pretty well in their task on both counts. Das played a superb knock and showed once again that he is improving with every game. Laxman once again looked good, but got out when he was set. He’s in good form and needs to capitalize on starts. Looking back, quite a few heartening things happened for us in Bulawayo. Fielding was of the highest level, with our close-in fielders taking some blinders. Ramesh at Gully took two crucial catches to dismiss Guy Whittal and Andy Flower – the mainstays of the Zimbabwean batting line-up. Both were excellent efforts and came at important moments. However, I felt we could have bowled a bit better in the first innings. Ashish Nehra was the pick of the bowlers, and his running on the wicket was surprising. I believe it was marginal, but these days the umpires feel a lot of pressure from the television people and that’s why you need strong people out there in the middle. I also think it was the fear of the offie, since the rough the left-armers were creating was just outside the off-stump. Harbhajan’s contribution was once again very very impressive. He bowled a tight line throughout the Test, and his contribution with the bat along with Samir Dighe gave us the crucial lead. The 145-run lead more or less decided the Test in our favour. I knew we had the potential, talent and hunger to win. Now we need to build on from here and be more consistent. A lot of cricket is scheduled for this season and I hope we can continue the winning habit.
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England upbeat despite loss Bristol, (England), June 11 The world champions Australia edged to a five-wicket victory on Sunday, surpassing England’s total of 268 for four wickets with only three balls to spare and Stewart was pleased with the way his young team played. “I’m very proud of the way our exceptionally inexperienced team competed against a fantastic Australian side,” Stewart said after leading England to a record-equalling sequence of one-day defeats. “It was very disappointing to lose but we knew we were third favourites in this tournament.” England lie bottom of the standings, having also lost their opening match to Pakistan by 108 runs. But Stewart thinks the performances of young players like Owais Shah and Ben Hollioake offer real hope for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The pair shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 70 from 45 balls, Hollioake finishing with 37 not out and Shah an unbeaten 28 on his England debut. “I was really pleased with the way they handled a pressure situation,” Stewart said. “If they can learn quickly and continue to improve we will start to produce better results. We simply have not competed in the last two World Cups.” Australian captain Steve Waugh was also impressed by England after the teams’ first meeting ahead of the five-Test Ashes series. “It was an excellent game of one-day cricket with both sides batting well and fielding energetically,” said Waugh, who steered his side to their target with an unbeaten 26. “In the end, our experience helped us through and perhaps we had the bit of luck you sometimes need.” Defeat against Pakistan at the Lord’s on Tuesday would set an unwelcome record for England, surpassing the run of seven successive losses they suffered in both 1993 and 1999, and with another match against Australia at Old Trafford two days later the sequence could get even longer. “Australia and Pakistan are vastly experienced sides,” Stewart said. “We had six main players unavailable through injury today but we still gave them a very good game.” Batsmen Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan, and fast bowler Andrew Caddick, who all missed the match against Australia, should be fit to face Pakistan.
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Anand records rare hat-trick
of wins Leon (Spain), June 11 Anand had defeated former world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia 5-1 in a six game match for the title in 1999 while last year he beat Shirov in the final. It was a 2.5-0.5 rout in the four game final match before Shirov regained some lost glory winning the unimportant fourth game to make it a face saving 2.5-1.5 score. Anand had the white pieces in the first game and the players continued their battle in the Winawer variation of the French defence in which Anand has a stupendous winning record. The middlegame was fought fiercely and the ensuing endgame offered Anand a clear advantage as his Rooks penetrated the opposition camp. Shirov’s resourceful play gave him a breather as Anand fumbled in the dying stages of the match to finally agree to a draw after 68 moves. It was the second game that gave the Indian a full point cushion with resourceful play in a nearly balanced endgame. The opening was a Caro Kann Advance variation and
Anand came up with a rare fourth move to steer the game on less trodden paths. The pieces got exchanged at regular intervals and Shirov was saddled with a bad Bishop in the Rook and minor piece endgame. Displaying precise technique, Anand won a pawn and steadily cruised through. The third game was another attestation of Anand’s superior understanding of the endgame and Shirov did not get a chance to come out of blues for a Sicilian Nazdorf defence game with black pieces.
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Indian eves draw hockey series against
Kiwis Sydney, June 11 According to media reports, Jothi Sunita Kullu scored the all-important goal from a penalty corner in the 22nd minute to get a respectable series drawing result from the Hamilton tie on Sunday. Earlier, Indian women had got the better of their New Zealand counterparts by a margin of 1-0 in the third Test at Auckland. Sunday’s Indian win has also led to a demand from media and New Zealand hockey followers to take a serious look at the Black Sticks, as New Zealand women’s team is called, state of affairs. The media commentators are beginning to call the New Zealand side brittle. The Indian wins in the final two games would also come as a good sign of the things to come for the Indian men’s hockey team as they are scheduled to play a four-Test series in New Zealand starting from June 16. The result of the last two Tests has thrilled Indian coach
A.K. Bansal as Indian women have come back from a hopeless 0-2 deficit incurred after the completion of the first two Tests. “We are rebuilding with 10 new girls from our junior World Cup side,” he told reporters after the Sunday win in reportedly cold and bleak conditions at Gallagher Hockey Center in Hamilton. “New Zealand are a good side, and we are happy to have beaten them not once, but twice,” Bansal added. The series result looks even more impressive considering that the New Zealand team has a world ranking of sixth while Indians are far behind at No 15. The Indian team’s loss in the first two Tests was also attributed partly to the severe southern hemisphere winter conditions in New Zealand and to the fact that the Indian women were not given much of practice before they were exposed to the fancied New Zealanders. The proceedings of the fourth and final Test on Sunday were reportedly dominated by the new-look Indian team as they raided the opposition goal on a number of occasions showing glimpses of artistic stick work in their lightening counter-attacks. Indians could have scored a few more goals but for the resistance put up by the debutante New Zealand defender, 18-year old Lizzie
Igasan. New Zealanders, on the other hand, had a comprehensive look at the Indian goal only on a few occasions. Earlier, the Indian women’s hockey team had given their hosts a number of reasons to worry about the form of their team as they scored a 1-0 win at New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland on Saturday. The all-important goal in the third Test came from the stick of Sanggai Chanu in the first minute of the game to leave the New Zealand team startled. They failed to stage a recovery and reportedly showed lack of poise against their opponents whom they had defeated with comfort in the first two Tests. The Indians managed to win the third Test, according to media reports, because they had more forwards in their attack than the previous two games. The managers of the Indian men’s hockey team would definitely be watching the proceedings of the women’s Test series with interest. Like the women’s team, India is scheduled to play the first Test at South Island that is considered one of the coldest hockey venues in the world. Indian men, like the women’s team, would not have much time to
acclimatize themselves before taking on the New Zealanders on June 16.
IANS |
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After third set I lost focus:
Corretja
Paris, June 11 That was what he was seeded to win the title. After pocketing the opening set 7/3 and breaking for a 2-0 lead in the second it looked just for an instant that his lifelong dream of winning clay-court tennis’ supreme honour could come true. But that was when king of clay Kuerten started to turn on the power, levelling at one set all and then swatting Corretja in the following two to leave the Spaniard an exasperated and forlorn figure. What went wrong? Corretja said that the turning point had come in the third set when Kuerten stepped on the gas. “I think when he plays like he did in the last two sets, it’s pretty difficult to beat him. “I thought I still had a chance when I lost the second set. But once I lost the third set, I lost my focus, I lost my game, I lost my north. I lost my strategy.” It was the second time that the 27-year-old from Barcelona had fallen at the final hurdle at Roland Garros. Three years ago he went up against compatriot and close friend Carlos Moya, but went down in straight sets. Corretja had crafted his entire year around winning the French Open taking two months off after leading Spain to the Davis Cup in December to gather his forces for the long assault on Paris. He struggled after coming back to the circuit, but says that this did not worry him at the time as all he had in mind was peaking at the right time in the French Open. He failed to make it past the quarter-finals in Rome and Hamburg, the two traditional build-up tournaments for Roland Garros, but in the week preceding Paris, he won three in a row on clay at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf. He survived a five-setter in the first round here against Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina and then he run into top form, winning 15 sets in a row on his way to the showdown with Kuerten. The opening set in the final made it 16 in a row, but it was to end there and Corretja was left pondering what could have been. “At this moment,” he said in his post-match press-conference, “I don’t feel too happy. “Maybe afterwards when I see that I’m back in the top 10, maybe when I can play another Grand Slam final.
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Few easy matches in women’s tennis now Paris, June 11 Gone are the days when Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert bestrode the scene brooking no opposition other than between themselves. Gone are the days when Steffi Graf stood head and shoulders above the rest, winning 22 Grand Slam singles titles. Now there are potentially a dozen realistic winners for each Grand Slam event and the list is growing all the time. In Paris it was 18-year-old Kim Clijsters of Belgium who joined the ranks by taking Jennifer Capriati all the way in the final against all the odds. Her 19-year-old compatriot Justine Henin, whom she defeated in the semi-finals has also come of age. There are few easy matches now in women’s tennis as there used to be. Witness the first round at Roland Garros where big-hitters Venus Williams of the USA and Amelie Mauresmo of france were sent packing. The self-assured Clijsters says that we are seeing the shape of things to come. “If you see all the new upcoming players, they all hit the ball very hard,” she said. “Jelena Dokic, Justine Henin, Elena Dementieva, they hit the ball hard, they go for their points. I think this is probably the future of tennis.” French Open winner Capriati, a veteran at 25, is full of praise for the new wave of players saying that they are much more aggressive than in the past. The New Yorker is the form-horse of the moment having won the last two Grand Slam events, but she will be seeded no higher than four at Wimbledon where picking the winner will be tough. Hingis last won a Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January 1999 and she is finding it harder and harder to stay the course for two weeks against the growing ranks of players who are bigger and stronger than her. She even gave indications here after her loss to Capriati that she could cut back on her punishing tournament schedule and focus more fully on Melbourne, Paris, London and New York. The Williams sisters are as unpredictable as ever. After a stunning 2000 when she won at Wimbledon, the US Open and at the Sydney Olympics, Venus has blown hot and cold this year seemingly more interested in high fashion than tough tennis. Serena is bedevilled by injuries missing three months with a knee injury before reaching the quarter-finals in Paris. The rest of her year could go either way.
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Wimbledon to double number
of seeds Paris, June 11 The Grand Slam committee, representing Wimbledon and the US, French and Australian Opens said the 32 seeds would be based entirely on the top 32 in the men’s ATP entry system rankings and on the women’s WTA tour rankings. But in a concession to the different surfaces involved, each tournament will be able to rearrange the rankings according to players’ abilities. The issue of seeding came to the fore last year when the Wimbledon committee drew up their own seeding list for the prime grass court event which did not accord with the official rankings. That provoked several clay-court players, who are less good on grass, to withdraw in protest and a similar action was expected this year.
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If charged Cronje may face extradition Johannesburg, June 10 He might also find himself facing extradition to India, if the South African police decide to charge him for his self-confessed role in match-fixing. The chairperson of the commission, Judge Edwin King, on Friday handed over his final report to Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour. One of the most awaited last aspects of the commission, which has already issued two interim reports with recommendations, is the issue of indemnity from prosecution for
Cronje. He was promised this indemnity if he came clean at the Commission and told all that he knew about match fixing in cricket. The South African government established the Commission after Cronje admitted accepting money and gifts from Indian and South African bookmakers. Judge King has refused to say anything about his final recommendations amid speculation that they include the denial of the indemnity to
Cronje. The London Sunday Times reported this, prompting Shamila
Batohi, leader of evidence at the King Commission, to dub the report “absolute blatant untruth.” The Times had quoted Batohi as saying that Cronje would be denied indemnity. Batohi denied this. The indemnity is a serious issue for
Cronje, who is fighting a battle in the high court to rescind a decision by the United Cricket Board of South Africa
(UCBSA) late last year to ban him for life. The South African Revenue Services, which handles all tax issue, as well as the finance ministry, have been keeping a close watch on the issue.
Cronje’s’ admissions at the commission included having kept a large amount of foreign currency undeclared in his home and money he did not declare as income. Both are offences in South African law. If the indemnity from criminal prosecution is not granted, Cronje could be facing huge bills for unpaid taxes as well as possible criminal prosecution for the offences. However, there appears to be some uncertainty about the extent of the indemnity. Some experts say it only covers criminal prosecution on the possible bribery and corruption charges related to match fixing and that the financial irregularities are separate issues. Others say that there could be total exemption from all charges. The only one who knows for sure is Judge King, and he is not saying anything. King said the report would first go to the State President, who would make it available to the UCBSA and release in publicly. The process is expected to take a few weeks.
IANS |
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Machine may spot no-balls London, June 11 The manufacturers of Cyclops, the machine which electronically judges line calls in tennis, have approached the England cricket board with an offer to modify the system for cricket. “We’ll look at the idea from a practical and budgetary point of view, and see where we stand,” ECB cricket operations manager Alan Fordham told The Daily Express Newspaper. The issue was raised in the second cricket test between England and Pakistan last week where umpires failed to notice several no-balls, four of which led to dismissals.
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Fencer alleges
harassment Patiala, June 11 Preet Mohinder Singh, a class XII (non-medical) student of Model Senior Secondary School was awarded a B-junior gradation certificate by the PSD by virtue of his being a member of the Punjab fencing team which won a gold medal in the Epee event in the Junior National Fencing Championships held at Pondicherry last year. Preet Mohinder’s mother, Mrs Jaskirat Kaur Mann, personally collected the certificate from the office of the District Sports Officer (DSO) here on May 25. The boy was all set to seek admission in an engineering college as he fulfilled the admission criteria by virtue of his being graded in the B-junior category. However, Preet Mohinder and his entire family were shocked when on June 1 they received a letter from the Patiala DSO office in which it was written that due to telephonic instructions from the PSD head office the certificate had to be returned to the Chandigarh office. The certificate was duly returned by Preet Mohinder’s family in the hope that PSD officials might have wanted to rectify some technical flaw in the certificate. But the officials are not returning the certificate even as the admission date is drawing near. The harassed family members while alleging foul play by a top functionary of the PSD have threatened to move the court if the certificate is not returned before the due admission date. When contacted Ms Chanchal
Randhawa, Joint Director of the PSD, feigned ignorance about the entire episode whereas sources reveal that it was on her insistence that the local DSO officials had asked the boy to return the certificate. A senior officer, preferring anonymity, disclosed that they neither had the powers to withdraw the certificate nor was there any reason to do so as no objections were raised during processing of the certificate which was done at the local DSO. Meanwhile, the Punjab Fencing Association
(PFA) in its general body meeting held recently, took stock of the situation. Mr Brahm
Mohindera, president of the PFA, termed the matter as ‘very serious’ and said that he would be writing to the PSD officials to return the certificate so that an academic year of the young student was not wasted just due to the negligence of some PSD officials.
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Teamwork led to victory: coach Chennai, June 11 “India did well to score early goals and keep the rivals under pressure in all the matches except against Malaysia,’’the coach told UNI here, when the team arrived this morning from Ipoh. “The boys did a good job,’’ he said. Asked if the team had to struggle against Malaysia, Rajinder said “That is part of the game. It happens.’’ He also pointed out that for the first time the team’s penalty corner conversion was 80 per cent. However, asked if he had noticed any glaring shortcoming, the coach said the forwards proved to be a bit weak in converting the scoring chances into goals. “The rate of conversion of chances was not not satisfactory. This aspect has to be worked on.”
UNI |
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Babita, Deepak win
titles Patiala, June 11 In the boys’ section of the team events, Bathinda was placed first and Patiala took the second spot. In the girls’ section, Patiala stood first and Fatehgarh Sahib grabbed the second spot. The other results : (boys): 53 kg- Deepak Kumar (Patiala)-1, Tejbir Singh (Sangrur)-2, Baljinder Singh (Patiala)-3; 56 kg- Deepak Kumar (Patiala)-1, Ashwani (Patiala)-2, Saurav Kapoor (Patiala)-3; 60 kg-Pawan Kumar (Patiala)-1, Dalvir Singh (Ludhiana)-2, Ajay Sood (Fatehgarh Sahib)-3; 67.5 kg-Rajiv Sareen (Kapurthala)-1, Sanjay (Ludhiana)-2, Kulwant Singh (Ludhiana)-3; 70 kg-Gautam Sood (Fatehgarh Sahib)-1, Jatinder Kapoor (Patiala)-2, Sunil Sareen (Kapurthala)-3; 82.5 kg- Kuljeet Singh (Patiala)-1, Jagdeep Singh (Fatehgarh Sahib)-2, Rupesh Kumar (Patiala)-3; 90 kg- Sumit (Patiala)-1, Sanjeev Kumar (Fatehgarh Sahib)-2, Rishi (Fatehgarh Sahib)-3;125 kg - Deepak Mankoo (Fatehgarh Sahib)-1, Amit (Kapurthala)-2, Gursharan Singh (Patiala)-3. (Girls):
44 kg - Meena (Bathinda)-1, Poonam (Bathinda)-2; 48 kg-Pawandeep Kaur (Bathinda)-1; 52
kg-Anjana (Bathinda)-1; 56 kg-Arpana (Patiala)-1; 60 kg- Kamaljit Kaur (Bathinda)-1; 82.5 kg- Babita Rani (Bathinda)-1.
Badminton meet Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) downed Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board (MPSEB) 3-0 to annex the title in the team event of the 28th all-India inter-electricity board badminton championships, which concluded at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, late yesterday evening, according to information received. The results : PSEB beat MPSEB 3-0 ( Rohan Kapoor beat N.Subramanium 7-1,7-0,7-5; Mohammad Saleem beat Sanjay Pandey 7-4,7-5,7-2; Chanderdeep Randhawa and Rohan Kapoor beat N.Subramanium and Sanjay Pandey 7-6,7-5,8-6).
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Grapplers third Chandigarh, June 11 He said Sunita Sharma (56 kg) from Haryana won silver medal, whereas Kiran Sihag (68 kg) from Delhi and Roshni (51 kg) from Haryana secured fourth positions in their respective weight categories. Kirpa Shankar (54 kg) won the bronze medal and Ramesh Kumar (69 kg) won silver in free style whereas Gurvinder Singh (63 kg) and Mukesh Khatri (54 kg) were fourth in the Greeco Roman style wrestling. |
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Harkamal wins Ludhiana, June 11 Harkamal scored five points and qualified for the National ‘B’ Chess Championship to be held from June 30 to July 13 at Nagpur. Kanwarjit Singh of Jalandhar, (5) Vikas Sharma of Ludhiana (4.5) and Ashwani Tiwari of Jalandhar (4) were second, third and fourth positions, respectively. They have also qualified for the forthcoming National ‘B’ Chess Championship. |
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Leon (Spain), June 11
