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Thursday,
September 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Hingis, Kuerten win; Davenport falls
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Will Saurav Ganguly get the selectors’
nod? Absence won’t affect
form: Tendulkar After nightmares, Tendulkar in Warne’s ‘Dream’ |
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Muthiah’s remark childish:
Morarka Pakistan to probe World Cup
matches Minnows Venezuela stun
Chile Arjuna Awards: ‘IOA
more to blame’ Lanka drop
Arnold Amritsar beat Jalandhar
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Hingis, Kuerten win; Davenport
falls
New York, September 5 On the verge of his best Grand Slam result beyond the red clay of Paris, the Brazilian sensation known as “Guga” is showing rivals he can deliver on the US Open hardcourts as well. Kuerten, who captured his third French Open title in June, advanced to the US Open quarterfinals yesterday with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) triumph over Spain’s 40th-ranked Albert Costa. Kuerten has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal on hardcourts or Wimbledon grass, but has new confidence after six ATP titles and a 59-9 record. “It’s a little new for me. I never pass to the semifinals,” Kuerten said. “So it can be a different challenge. But I’m sure I’m prepared for this.” Lurking on the other side of the draw are defending champion Marat Safin and legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, who meet in a quarterfinal showdown. But Kuerten is concentrating on himself. Next up for Kuerten, who turns 25 on Monday, is a match tomorrow with Russian seventh seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, a two-time Grand Slam champion who ousted French No 2 12 seed Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Kuerten leads the rivalry 7-3, winning three in a row since Kafelnikov beat him on the way to Sydney Olympic gold. That includes a triumph in this year’s French Open quarterfinals. Big-serving American 19-year-old Andy Roddick, ranked 338th a year ago, became the youngest US Open quarterfinalist since Andre Agassi in 1988 by overpowering 39th-rated Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. “Guga” fired 18 aces without a double fault to win in two hours and three minutes, although Costa held tough, saving eight of 11 break points. Serena Williams moved within one victory of a possible US Open final showdown against her sister Venus, but world No 1 Martina Hingis made herself a formidable roadblock to that sibling rivalry. Tenth seed Williams, who beat Hingis here in the 1999 final, outlasted second seed Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5 in a quarterfinal to book a Friday semifinal date with top seed Hingis. “I have to keep down the errors,” Williams said. “And sometimes you want to use power but sometimes you want to use brain as opposed to brawn. She got here by working hard. I can’t take her for granted.” But Serena did allow herself a moment to think what it would be like to meet defending champion Venus in an all-Williams final, the first US Open women’s championship match to be played at night. “That would be great,” she said. “I’m sure TV would love it.” Fourth seed Venus Williams plays fifth seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium in a quarterfinal the right to meet either second seed Jennifer Capriati, the Australian and French Open champion, or French eighth seed Amelie Mauresmo. Hingis advanced to her sixth consecutive US Open semifinal by defeating Czech teen Daja Bedanova 6-2, 6-0 in 42 minutes, winning the final 10 games over her childhood practise partner to earn a date with Serena Williams. “I definitely prefer playing Serena first and then Venus,” Hingis said. Serena Williams rose to 7-2 lifetime against Davenport, who beat the younger Williams sister in last year’s quarterfinals to end her reign. This time, Davenport made her earliest US Open exit since 1996. Kafelnikov, seeded No 7, had not beaten the 12th-seeded Frenchman since 1999 in Moscow and played careful, calculated tennis after being stretched to five sets in the first two rounds and four in the third, all against qualifiers. In the first set, the Russian wasted four set points before putting Clement away. His lead teetered for a while with Clement, the Australian Open runner-up, getting three break chances that would have tied the set. Each time, Kafelnikov saved the breaks. Wearing a bandanna and wraparound sunglasses on an overcast day, Clement’s finest moment came in the second set. After Kafelnikov slammed Clement’s drop shot to go up 4-2 he had a chance to build on the edge. With Clement out of position, sliding to return a shot, Kafelnikov tried a half-volley. Clement got to it for the point and Kafelnikov threw his racket to the court in anger. He recovered his composure to break Clement and went on to win the set. Then Kafelnikov broke twice in the third set before Clement drew a warning for hitting a ball into the stands. While he was arguing the call with chair umpire Enric Molina, rain interrupted play. When the players returned after 47 minutes, Kafelnikov finished Clement off, capitalising on 54 unforced errors to advance.
AFP, AP |
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‘Strongest’ woman finds herself
helpless Ludhiana, September 5 With no funds and the games scheduled from September 12 to 16, this could be a losing opportunity for India to win an international medal due to red tape and procedural delays. Who ever Mandeep approached has assured her help but that would take at least two to three months to materialise. By then it would be too late. Mandeep has already missed the chance to participate in an international meet in Taiwan last year due to the same financial constraints. She started powerlifting in 1995. She recently won gold medal in 60 kg in the Senior National Powerlifting Championship at Jamshedpur. She has already won the title of strongest women of India for five consecutive years from 1997 to 2001. According to her guide and coach Gurinder Singh she is the only women in the state in last 25 years who has reached this level. Despite lack of finances, Mandeep has reached at this level because of her hard work. She has won three Senior Powerlifting Championships, two junior championships and one northern India tournament. Mandeep belongs to Bathinda, where she is a student of BA I in the local Khalsa College for Women. Her father is a retired bank employee while her two brothers are unemployed. A sum of about Rs 75000 would see her attain her dream, her well wishers and friends have already contributed Rs 50,000. Short of Rs 25,000 she feels she will never be able to make it to the meet, specially when money has to be deposited Thursday in Delhi. Mandeep, sees Malashwari as an example and still hopes that somehow she may make it. Perhaps a good Samaritan can make her dream come true along with helping bring laurels to the nation. |
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Will Saurav Ganguly get the selectors’
nod? Chandigarh, September 5 The players who replaces the injured V.V.S. Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar did not do their reputation any good in the tour of Sri Lanka. Instead of grabbing the chance which they got, both Hemang Badani and Mohammad Kaif could not do anything of note in any of the three Test matches and it now doubtful whether they will be able to retain the confidence of the selectors when the team is selected on Friday. If they had performed to their full potential they might have been able to pose a challenge to Saurav the batsman. But that has not come about. They way they played in the Test matches has only gone to prove that the Indian bench strength in contrast to teams like Australia or Pakistan is indeed poor. The two other middle-order batsmen in the team, Jacob Martin or Dinesh Mongia, did not get even a look-in for reasons only the team management can say. One reason why Badani and Kaif continued to play in spite of a string of poor performances is the fact that India were able to pull back at Kandy after losing the first test to level the series. And no captain or team management wants to change a winning combination. And it is probably this reason alone which saw Badani and Kaif playing yet again in the third Test at Colombo with the consequential disaster. There is no denying the fact that Saurav is having a miserable time with the bat. Notwithstanding his unbeaten 98 in the second Test at Kandy (and the Indian skipper will be the first to agree that the knock was good only in patches) his form with the bat in the recent games has not been up to the mark. The opposition has been able to find a chink in his batting and every fast bowler is exploiting the chink. And to make matters worse, Ganguly is falling into the trap being laid by the opposition time and again. But his leadership has been aggressive and apt and it seems that the Indian skipper has picked up some tips from the Australians against whom he and his team came out best during the Aussies’ tour of India earlier this year. Moreover, Saurav has been encouraging the youngsters, specially during the one-dayers, to do well because he knows that it is in them that the future of Indian cricket lies. Although it is unfortunate that the Indian skipper has got on the wrong side of the match referee one more than one occasion a number of pundits are of the view that he is more sinned against than a sinner. To add to Saurav’s trouble is the fact that in Sri Lanka he did not have the full Indian team with two top batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman, and two top bowlers, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath (injured in the very first Test against Sri Lanka after claiming a five-wicket haul in the home team’s second innings) were not there to add strength to the team. Also, recent find Ashish Nehra was injured and was forced to miss the tour. And in their absence the Indian skipper had to rely on a number of greenhorns, who failed to deliver. But if Saurav has to continue to lead India he has to come to terms with his batting because no Indian team can play with 10 players and a captain. Therefore, even if he is able to retain his job as captain he has to perform with the bat in South Africa because any further failure will have people asking for his head even if there is no automatic replacement. But then he is too good a batsmen to continue to go through a lean patch and his luck has to turn sooner than later. In case the national selectors do drop Saurav the captain, they will also have to drop Saurav the batsman. But then who should get their nod? During the tour of Zimbabwe Sachin Tendulkar had indicated to certain mediamen that he was not averse to lead India again but then with the fitness of Sachin still in doubt will he accept the additional load which leading India entails? The other choice can be the vice-captain of the Indian team — Rahul Dravid — who being a keen watcher of the game should be able handle the job. But will it be fair to give him the tough job during the demanding tour of South Africa? |
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Absence won’t affect form: Tendulkar Mumbai, September 5 He said the new inner soles, which he last week acquired from South Africa, had helped him tremendously and there was absolutely no pain on his right big toe. “The inner soles cushion the injured toe and I feel very comfortable when I run. I think I have totally recovered”, the Indian batting mainstay said. Tendulkar suffered the injury in Zimbabwe during the last league match of a triangular series against the West Indies on July 4. Last week, he had consulted arthroscopic surgeon Dr Mark Fergusson in South Africa, who prescribed the use of special inner soles. “In fact, every one contributed for my recovery, especially the people at Adidas. I wanted shoes of different sizes and styles and these people provided everything I needed,” Tendulkar said. “Mainly the orthotics, which was designed in South Africa, really worked. I have started running a bit and the doctors said I can gradually increase the workout sessions. I should be perfectly alright in a couple of weeks,” he added. Asked about the pain in his right toe, Tendulkar said “though I am not running hard and just jogging for the time being, I do not feel any pain”. “Now I will let the muscles get used to the new soles and then gradually start training hard. I don’t want to push hard right now,” he added.
PTI |
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After nightmares, Tendulkar in Warne’s ‘Dream’ New Delhi, September 5 Warne, who lists his own ‘Dream Teams’ in his just-released autobiography, escapes criticism of heavily favouring Australia by drawing separate Aussie sides for both the versions of the game to take on the world’s best xi, the criterion being the spin-wizard should have played with the Aussies or against the Rest of the World in a full international. However, Warne persists with nine players of the Test side of the Rest of World in the one-day squad too which includes, besides Tendulkar, Saeed Anwar, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Moin Khan, Chris Cairns, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq and Curtly Ambrose. He explains the recurrence of players thus: “There is a place for limited-overs specialists, but from experience I think that great players are great players what ever the form of the game. People of this quality are good enough to adapt to any situation.” While Warne, who once admitted being tormented by Tendulkar in his nightmares, justifies Tendulkar’s presence in the Test side quite at length, the reasons for picking the Indian in the one-day squad is explained tersely in just one sentence! “What makes him (Tendulkar) the best in my eyes is the way he judges the length faster than any other player and rocks on the front or back foot almost as soon as the ball has left your hand. “He does not settle for 60s or 70s but goes on to score big hundreds. At his present rate, he could even score a hundred hundreds in international cricket,” Warne says with as much admiration as awe. And the willow which Tendulkar wields “might weigh 3lb 2oz but his timing is still first-class”. The eulogy continues as Warne, who himself failed to make it to Bradman’s XI, declares with aplomb, “He is the best batsman I’ve played against by a distance”. Tendulkar’s inclusion in the one-day squad is explained by simply saying, “Capable of dominating from the first ball”. While Tendulkar is the only Indian representative, there are four Pakistanis including, Saeed Anwar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram and Moin Khan, and no Sri Lankan in Warne’s lists. Bradman had settled for only Tendulkar from the entire Indian sub-continent. Tendulkar may be unsure of his capabilities as a leader but not Warne as he hands over the mantle of vice-captaincy of the Rest of the World Test side on the Indian with confidence ahead of Graham Gooch (England) and Brian Lara (West Indies). The mercurial Brian Lara earned a place in both the sides on account of his “flair with his high backlift and on his day the most entertaining batsman in the world who can tear an attack to ribbons”. Wasim Akram, “who can bounce people out”, South African Brian Mcmillan, “the best all-rounder in the first half of 1990’s”, New Zealand’s Chris Cairns, who can “change a game in a session”, South African Jacques Kallis, a high-quality all-rounder and Saeed Anwar of Pakistan whose “footwork is impeccable” — comprehensive portraits of all these players have been drawn with colour and style. You could trust only Warne, voted one of the five greatest cricketers of the 20th century by Wisden, for being blatantly frank in justifying his inclusion in the sides. “It’s my book”, he says without any qualms! Teams: Australia (Test): Mark Taylor, Michael Slater, David Boon, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Allan Border (Capt), Ian Healy, Shane Warne, Merv Hughes, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Bruce Reid. Australia (one-day): Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Dean Jones, Steve Waugh, Allan Border (capt), Michael Bevan, Darren Lehmann, Tom Moody, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting. Rest of the World (Test): Saeed Anwar, Graham Gooch, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar (vice-capt), Martin Crowe (capt), Jacques Kallis, Chris Cairns, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Curtly Ambrose, Brian McMillan. Rest of the World (one-day): Saeed Anwar, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara, Jonty Rhodes, Chris Cairns, Lance Klusener, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Curtly Ambrose, Darren Gough. No captain or vice-captain named for Rest of the World’s one-day team.
PTI |
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Muthiah’s remark childish: Morarka Nawalgarh (Rajasthan), September 5 “What was achieved (by the board) in these two years. What was achieved by banning Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma from the game or by suspending Ajay Jadeja? Today the board is needlessly caught in court battles,’’ he told reporters here. Morarka, known to be a supporter of fellow Marwari industrialist and former International Cricket Council (ICC) president Jagmohan Dalmia in the board, said India should have let off its players accused of cricket match-fixing with some minor punishment. “They should have been fined and banned from the game for a season, as the other countries did with their players (facing similar charges),’’ he said. Morarka, the BCCI Vice-President said there was no need for the BCCI to mimic the Australian or South African cricket boards. “The contract system is not easy to implement in India because unlike in these countries there is no consistency in the players here,’’ he opined. “Today Muthiah is chargesheeted. Is he prepared to resign? Arre bhai, you apply the same laws on everyone,’’ he said. He described as “childish’’ Muthiah’s recent remark that Dalmia, chief of the West Bengal Cricket Association, was behind the government decision not to participate in the Asia Cup matches.
UNI |
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Pakistan to probe World Cup matches Karachi, September 5 A one-man commission, with Justice Karamat Bhandari of the Lahore High Court, has been appointed by the government to determine whether Pakistan matches against Bangladesh and India in the last World Cup were fixed. A spokesman for the commission said the proceedings would take place at the Lahore High Court. “We have invited anyone having any information or evidence which can be of help to the commission to register with us by September 20,” commission registrar, Kazim Ali Malik, told Reuters by Telephone from Lahore.It will also look into the conduct of Pakistani umpire Javed Akhtar during the Test match between England and South Africa at Headingley in 1998. “The terms of reference of the commission are to probe and ascertain whether there was any match-fixing in the matches against Bangladesh and India and to submit recommendations,’’ Malik said. Ali Bacher, former Managing Director of the South African Cricket Board, first told the King Commission in South Africa that he had been told by former Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Majid Khan that the matches Pakistan played against Bangladesh and India might have been fixed. He said the commission would determine whether some persons were involved or were responsible for match-fixing and betting and ‘’recommend appropriate action and measures that in future such episodes are not repeated in case of an affirmative finding’’. This is the second time in three years that Pakistani authorities appointed a judicial commission to probe into allegations of match-fixing and betting in Pakistani cricket. Pakistan conducted a judicial inquiry under Lahore High Court Judge Malik Gayyum in 1998 after allegations that several players had helped fix matches. The Pakistan Cricket Board banned former captain Salim Malik and all-rounder Ata-ur-Rehman after the release of the Qayyum report in May last year. Former captain Wasim Akram and five other cricketers received censure and fines.
Reuters |
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Minnows Venezuela stun Chile Santiago, September 5 The result was also a stunning turnaround for Chile, coming only four days after they deservedly beat world and European champions France 2-1 in a friendly which marked the international retirement of striker Ivan Zamorano. Two second half goals settled the game for Venezuela. Ricardo Paez fired Venezuela ahead in the 57th minute from a rebound after Ruberth Moran broke down the left and his shot was parried by goalkeeper Nelson Tapia. Five minutes later, Juan Arango broke clear of the Chile defence and slid the ball under Tapia. Both teams were already out of the running for a place at next year’s World Cup. Venezuela, who last month surprisingly beat Uruguay 2-0 at home, had never won two successive qualifiers before. They stayed bottom of the group with 10 points from 15 games but are now only one point behind Chile, who are ninth. The match was a sad send-off for Chile coach Pedro Garcia, who has announced his resignation after only six months in charge. During the second half, a disillusioned crowd jeered Chile and chanted ‘ole’ as Venezuela passed the ball around. LIMA: Alvaro Recoba inspired Uruguay to a 2-0 away win against Peru, which revived their chances of qualifying for next year’s world cup and turned up the heat on Brazil. Recoba, on Tuesday set up the first goal and scored the second from a superb free kick as the Uruguayans recovered from last month’s setback of a shock defeat in Venezuela. Uruguay, who were once a major power in soccer but have missed the last two World Cups, stayed in fifth place in the South American group but went level on 24 points with Brazil, who are away to Argentina. The top four teams qualify for Japan and South Korea next year. The fifth-placed team get another chance in a two-leg play-off against oceania winners Australia. Peru’s defeat, their fifth at home in the competition, kept them seventh with 15 points and ended any hopes they harboured of qualifying. Peru, who have not played at a World Cup since 1982, had an early warning when Dario Silva broke clear on the right and shot narrowly wide.
Reuters |
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Arjuna Awards: ‘IOA
more to blame’ New Delhi, September 5 Milkha Singh was emphatic in saying that had Randhir Singh, secretary general of IOA and AAA and Bishan Singh Bedi, president of they AAA, been alive to the situation, every Tom, Dick and Harry could not have been chosen for this prestigious award. “It is not karan parsad for distribution after langar”, asserted Milkha Singh, adding: “It is to be presented to only those who bring laurels to the country with their sweat, toil and heroic achievements”. The AAA has not had a meeting for the last 12 to 13 years. “It is merely an advisory body”, says Bedi, adding: “I am looking for the sponsor to organise a get together of the awardees. When asked whether he would change his mind and accept the award since pressure is being mounted on him, Milkha Singh: “I am almost certain that I will not change my mind.” Milkha Singh had a detailed
discussion with Uma Bharti at Nehru Stadium where Randhir Singh was also present. On the request of the minister, he has sent several suggestion for providing prestige and lustre to the award. His important suggestions are: One different categories for sportspersons, that is, achievements in kho-kho, kabaddi and ball-badminton should not be clubbed with performances in athletics, swimming and hockey and second 50 per cent chosen performers should be former sportspersons. He said many sportspersons, who received award for the first 10 to 15 years, did not get any cash. “Some of them are battling hard for survival and they should be provided assistance”, he suggested.
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Lanka drop Arnold Colombo, September 5 Arnold has scored more than 50 only twice in his last 24 Tests and will be replaced by uncapped Michael Van Dort, who scored a century for a Board XI team in a three-day match against India last month. Pace bowlers Ruchira Perera and Ravindra Pushpakumara were recalled for the Test that begins tomorrow in Colombo. Sri Lanka beat India 2-1 in a Test series on Sunday. Bangladesh arrives after losing by an innings and 264 runs to Pakistan in the opening match of the Asian championship. The championship is being contested by only three teams after India pulled out over its government’s refusal to allow the team to play arch-rivals Pakistan in Lahore.
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Amritsar beat Jalandhar Amritsar, September 5 Amritsar won the toss and asked Jalandhar to bat and scored 238 all out in 74 overs. In reply, the home side scored 261 for eight, with Rohit and SP Singh scoring half centuries. Brief Scores:
Jalandhar: 238 all out (Varinder Kumar 3/82, Varun Mishra 3/38, Gaurav 2/17) (Amritsar : 261/8 (Rohit 59, SP Singh 50, Gaurav 33 n.o.; Parney Bhatia 21 n.o.; Amit Behl 3,40, Sodhi 2/37). |
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Mumbai, September 5
