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Wednesday,
March 6, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Pakistan knocked out; India go down fighting
WORLD CUP DIARY |
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Saurav Ganguly writes Fielding
India’s main worry Injured
Randhawa to miss Indian Open Anand
content to hold Vallejo Railways
keen to avenge defeat Salgaocar
triumph Bagan
win Delhi cagers post
facile win NR lift
crown Rural
meet results Auditmen
triumph Forward of AG Audit Club (Haryana) Vinay Kanwar tries to control the ball in the match against Nivia Sport Club, Kota, in the second division National Football League match in Chandigarh on Tuesday.
— Tribune photo Pankaj Sharma
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Pakistan knocked out; India go down fighting
Kuala Lumpur, March 5
The other two semifinalists are Australia and South Korea who finished first and second in Pool ‘B’. In the semifinals, to be played on March 7, Germany will meet Korea while Australia will take on Netherlands. India, playing their last league match against Australia, went down fighting 3-4 in a high voltage contest of Pool ‘B’ later in the evening. It was perhaps the best performance by the Indians in the World Cup so far as the former champions mesmerised the crowds with brilliant stickwork. In fact every player played his heart out and had it not been for the penalty stroke midway through the second half, India might have even wrapped up the match by the end. Australia made some close calls in the first half and on one occasion a through pass for Jeremy Hiskins was well intercepted. With Tirkey beaten and goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan having moved out of charge, Hiskins’ deflection nearly resulted in a goal but the ball missed the target by inches. Thereafter, India went on the offensive. A penalty corner push by Deepak Thakur saw defender Jugraj Singh attempting a drag flick which brooked no resistance(1-0). The Indian citadel survived some anxious moments and on one occasion, goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan brought off an excellent save when Craig Victory, with a clear view of the goal, aimed a powerful hit. The second half once again saw a determined India going all out to build on the advantage. Baljit Saini and Sukhbir Gill were outstanding in the midfield and defence while skipper Baljit Dhillon and his brother Daljit, along with junior world cuppers Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur and Olympian Dhanraj Pillay led the Indian assault. Baljit Dhillon was easily the pick of the lot as he moved up and down to create openings. However, the Aussies managed to draw level against the run of play when in the 42nd minute Craig Victory found the target in a goalmouth melee(1-1). India bounced back three minutes later when a move by Dhanraj Pillay culminated in Daljit Dhillon’s attempt from close range which put India ahead 2-1. But a penalty stroke in the 51st minute when defender Dilip Tirkey took the ball on his body brought the Aussies roaring back into contention as Jeremy Hiskins converted the stroke making it 2-2. At that moment skipper Baljit desired a change and immediately the Aussies scored the third goal. A set piece by Hiskins was utilised by Brent Livermore who placed the ball in the net(3-2). The lead increased to 4-2 in the 59th minute when Matthew Smith, who had earlier earned a yellow card, sounded the boards off a dummy following a short corner. India once again retaliated and managed to cut the deficit three minutes from close when Prabhjot Singh capitalised on a free hit by Baljit Saini to shoot home (3-4). But that was all that they could achieve. Nevertheless, for the large and boisterous crowd which kept rooting for the Indians, the edge-of-the-seat contest will be an unforgettable experience. India will now meet Spain for the 9-12 position. The crucial Germany-Pakistan match was marred by a controversy as the Pakistan team manager, Brig Khalid Khokhar, complained of biased umpiring. His contention was that his team was denied a clear goal and a penalty stroke while key defender Imran Tariq was wrongly penalised with a yellow card in the 48th minute. However, the protest lodged by the Pakistan team manager was later dismissed by Mr Wiert Doijer, Tournament Director, on the ground that the manager did not declare his intention while lodging his protest as is mandatory under rule 14.1 of the World Cup regulations. Germany went on the offensive from the start and tasted success in the 20th minute when Sascha Reinelt sounded the boards off a penalty corner. Four minutes later the score was 2-0 when skipper Florian Kunz converted another penalty corner but Pakistan hit back in the last minute before the breather with a goal through the ever reliable Sohail Abbas, who shot home off a short corner. Three minutes into the second half, Pakistan restored parity when Sohail Abbas was again on target following a penalty corner(2-2). However, the complexion of the game changed when Pakistan defender Imran Tariq was given the marching orders following a dangerous tackle, and the Pakistan camp was clearly upset over the decision. However, Germany capitalised on the advantage and skipper Florian Kunz scored the match winner in the 50th minute off a short corner to dash Pakistan’s hopes of making the semifinals. Pakistan team manager Brig Khalid Khokhar said: “Because of bad umpiring Pakistan have not been able to make it to the semifinals. We are ruining the game and this is bad for development of hockey.” German team manager Bernd Schopf, however, said : “The players commit mistakes and so do umpires at times. It is wrong to say that umpiring is biased.” Defending champions Netherlands overpowered South Africa 3-0 after leading by 2-0 at half time. The Dutch scorers were Teun de Nooijer(11th), Karel Klaver(29th) and Piet Hein Geeris(41st minute). Going by match statistics, the two sides had a fair share of the exchanges. Both Netherlands and South Africa had five shots each at the goal as also two penalty corners each. In Pool ‘A’ Japan registered a 4-2 win over Cuba despite going into arrears twice. England, who beat Korea 2-0, owed their success to Dave Mathews, whose brace in the 31st and 33rd minutes fetched the English full points and they will now be fighting for the 5-8 positions.. Argentina shocked former runners-up Spain 3-1 with goals from Mario Almada(15th,35th) and Rodrigo Vila (25th) while for Spain Albert Sala was the lone scorer in the 24th minute. Earlier, New Zealand hammered the last nails into Belgium’s coffin with a 4-3 win in the same pool. The highlight of the New Zealand win was a fine hat-trick by Hayden Shaw, which incidentally is the first one in the current edition of the World Cup.
In the last match, a fighting Malaysia rallied to hold Poland to a 2-2 draw amidst thunderous applause from the home crowd.
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WORLD
CUP DIARY The boss is always right, and German skipper Florian Kunz can vouch for it any day. Having run into a bad patch at the World Cup, Kunz sought coach Bernhard Peters’ advice after they were awarded a penalty corner in the crucial match against Netherlands. Peters, too, was aware of Kunz’s lack of form and accordingly he asked the skipper to try Bjorn Michel. And the move yielded the desired result with Michel’s goal turning out to be the match winner. After all, the boss was right! **** Two diehard Indian fans present at pitch two where India battled it out against Poland yesterday, not only were a source of amusement for scribes sitting in the Press enclosure but also served as an important feedback channel for the team management. “Coach,look that chap is limping,” said one at the top of his voice after midfielder Baljit Saini received a nasty hit on his leg. On other occasions, they kept on shouting “Come on India , don’t slacken your pace.” The kid accompanying them also kept on chanting ‘Dhanraj,Dhanraj’ until Dhanraj Pillay obliged and waved at them. **** In an effort to ensure a full house during the closing ceremony of the World Cup, complimentary tickets are likely to be given to school children, university students, volunteers, youth and sports associations and above all to under privileged sections of society. The National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil, with a capacity of 18,000 has seldom been packed to capacity except during matches in which the home team played. **** Malaysian coach Paul Lissek is in the news again. With Malaysia enjoying a mathematical chance of making it to the semis, Lissek’s
instructions prior to the match against Cuba yesterday were to go for the goals. “Before the match against Cuba yesterday, I told the players to score as many goals as possible. Now I feel I did the wrong thing. They concentrated too much on scoring and forgot about defending,” Lissek said after his team managed only a 4-2 win over the Cubans. |
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First hat-trick Kuala Lumpur, March 5 |
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Rest day Kuala Lumpur, March 5 |
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Saurav Ganguly writes At the beginning of the series, I had written that it’s not just about winning but also about how well we play to win. I’m extremely pleased to say that we played pretty well in the series to win both the Tests after losing two crucial tosses. Had we won the toss and batted first on both occasions, winning would have been a bit easier. What is particularly heartening is that plenty of positives emerged from this series. I know that many may not agree, but there have been gains. The bowling of Zaheer Khan for instance was a revelation. He generated good pace, was accurate and bowled with great variations in both games. It was great to see him steaming in like the Zaheer Khan of old — the one who impressed everybody in Nairobi. All he has to do is to learn how to bring the ball back into the right-hander a bit more often. He has the yorker, the bouncer and pace variations already, so this addition to his armory will make him a complete left-arm pace bowler. Sanjay Bangar too performed well and scored a very crucial century at Nagpur. He may not have got the opportunity to bowl much in the Tests thanks to the wickets, but we will see more of Bangar the bowler in the forthcoming one-dayers. Personally, it was good to get a century after so many starts in the recent past. I had been stroking the ball well since the one-dayers against England, and had got out between 35 and 47 five times in the last seven Tests. This time I’m happy I did not give it away after getting a good start. Interestingly, my four-month-old daughter has joined me for the first time during this Test, and I did her proud by getting a 100. Cricketers are a superstitious lot, and had she been a little older I might have been tempted to take her along wherever I went! For the Zimbabweans, Heath Streak bowled superbly throughout the series. He was quick, accurate and patient. Our young fast bowlers could learn a lot from this talented cricketer when it comes to perseverance and hard work. Ray Price was the most successful bowler for the visitors. I had written that he would be the one to watch in the series. He was very accurate, bowled a good line and varied his pace right through the extended spells he bowled. What made him tough to play was the fact that he would only turn the odd ball. His stock ball goes through straight, and then he would suddenly get one to turn sharply while continuing to bowl wide off the crease. Andy Flower will be disappointed that he did not have a repeat of his dream series in 2000. We did not have a plan for him, but I was confident that our current spin attack will give him a tough time. Last time round, our bowling was hampered by a few injuries, but during this tour we had a formidable spin attack. He found scoring quite difficult in both Nagpur and Delhi, especially against Harbhajan Singh. He struggled to get him off the square, and Harbhajan has now got the left-hander four times in the last four Tests. Looking ahead, it’s important that we guard against complacency during the one-dayers. It’s unfortunate that we will be missing three of our main players, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Javagal Srinath through injury. Fortunately they will all be fit well in time for the all-important series against West Indies. Moreover, their absence will give us an opportunity to have a look at the new players before the long tour. Once again, it will be our aim to play to our full potential in each game. It will be challenging to keep the level of intensity high right through the series, because it is only then that we can achieve consistency. I would like the boys to wake up on each of the match days and feel driven to win rather than just turn up. The Zimbabweans are a good one-day side who excel on the field. We know they aren’t pushovers, which is why it’s important that we keep our motivation levels high.
Gameplan |
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Fielding
India’s main worry Chandigarh, March 5 Winning the one-day series is very important for the Indians, specially after their miserable performance against England earlier this year. The Englishmen, who were below strength, were able to claw back to tie the series 3-3 after being down 1-3 in the six-match encounter. The Indians are scheduled to go to the West Indies after the completion of the ongoing series and a good performance in the one-day series will do wonders to their confidence as they have never been able to perform to their potential outside the country in recent years. The Zimbabweans are no push-overs in the shorter version of the game. This they have proved time and again against all types of oppositions. The magic and the strangulation which the Indian spin twins — Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh — applied on the visitors in the Test matches might not be possible in the one-dayers for at least two reasons; one the pitches for the one-dayers will be more batsmen friendly and two the bowlers will be allowed to send done only 10 overs each. But the main problems for the Indians is the fact that they will be without the services of Sachin Tendulkar (for the first three matches) and Virender Sehwag in the one-day series. And how they handle the absence of these two star is a moot question. These two, Sachin and Sehwag, have played a major role in India’s campaign in recent times and it remains to be seen how the team copes with their forced absence. India does not have the batsmen who can accelerate the run-rate like these two and the onus will fall largely on skipper Saurav Ganguly (who came good with a century in the Delhi Test) and the likes of V.V.S. Laxman and Sanjay Bangar to handle the batting. And to add to their batting woes is the fact that the Indians’ running between the wickets is much below international standards and everytime some dot balls are bowled by the opposition panic sets in among the batsmen. But more than the batting it is in the fielding department that the visitors undoubtedly have the upper hand. The Indian fielding time and again tends to slip down, specially in crunch situations, and this is one area which is worrying the team coach John Wright as well as the captain. Both have gone on record to express their displeasure at India’s sloppy display on the field. And if India do not improve in this department then it is quite likely that they will find the going getting tougher in the one-dayers against Zimbabwe. |
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Injured
Randhawa to miss Indian Open New Delhi, March 5 The Royal Challenge Indian Open will be returning to the Delhi Golf Club course after a gap of seven years, as the last Indian Open was played in Delhi in 1995. Though Jyoti Randha’s accident has come as a numbing shock to the golf fraternity, a classy field with the finest golfing talent in Asia, will be vying for the top prize in the $ 300,000 Royal Challenge Open. With more than 50 Asian PGA Tour titles between them, the 156-strong field is expected to produce quality golf. Twelve of the top 14 from the Hero Honda Masters, eight of the top 16 from the US $ 900,000 Singapore Masters event and four of the top 15 from the million-dollar Malaysian Open, will be seen in action at the Indian Open. The Indian challenge will be spearheaded, in the absence of Jyoti Randhawa, by Ali Sher, who sparked off a revolution in Indian golf with his twin victories in 1991 and 1993, and Feroz Ali, who claimed the title in 1998 on his home turf at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Ali Sher won the Indian Open twice, when the APGA Tour had not been set up, and was part of the erstwhile Asian Tour. Harmeet Kahlon, who last month won the Hero Honda Masters in Gurgaon, will be attempting a fabulous Indian double. He is currently fourth in the Asian PGA Order of Merit. Among the foreign entries, apart from the likes of Marksaeng, the best Asian player at the Malaysian Open (tied sixth), the in-form players at the Open will include Thammanoon, Arjun Singh, Korean Anthony Kang, Wiratchant, American Jim Johnson and South African James Kingston, Vijay Kumar and Gaurav Ghei. James Kingston of South Africa, who in his last three Indian Open appearances had finished in the top 10 and has four APGA Tour titles, American Gerry Noraquist, a five-time winner on the APGA Tour, Nico Van Rensburg, another South African with three APGA Tour titles, American Mike Cunning, winner of the APGA Order of Merit in 1997, Myanmar’s Kyi Hla Han and Clay Devers of the US, will be some of the players to be watched. |
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Anand content
to hold Vallejo Linares, March 5 With five more rounds remaining in this category-20 seven-players-double-round-robin event, Garry Kasparov, who had bye, maintained his position atop the table with 4.5 points from seven games. World champion Ruslan Ponomariov joined the big ‘K’ at the top with an excellent victory over England’s Michael Adams while Vishwanathan Anand and Spaniard Alexi Shirov share the third place on 4 points from eight games.
PTI |
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Railways keen to avenge defeat
New Delhi, March 5 Fresh from a superlative performance against Bengal in the semifinals, Railways, which pipped the team from East Zone to claim a berth in the final by virtue of a first innings lead, is raring to undo the things that went wrong last year. Railways’ coach Vinod Sharma, associated with the team for the past 18 years, was confident that his players would gel well as a team as they had done this season to beat their more fancied opponents. “Railways have so far won most of the matches with contributions from each member of the team rather than individual efforts and the final is not going to be any different,” he said. With match-winning all-rounder Sanjay Bangar doing service for the national team against Zimbabwe, the team’s success depends on its batting mainstay Amit Pagnis, J P Yadav and the prolific Yere Goud. “The trio alongwith skipper Abhay Sharma is capable of sending the bowlers on a leather-hunt any day,” he said.
PTI |
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Salgaocar
triumph Jalandhar, March 5 Both teams started with vigour and vivacity. A feeble move by Kuldip Singh of Punjab Police went outside the goal post. Salgaocar Sports Club and Punjab Police defence line proved strong throughout the first half. None allowed much elbow room for the other to manoeuvre. Gurinder Pal Singh’s pathetic kick was easily stopped by custodian Juje Siddi of Salgaocar Sports Club. Frequent raids by the policemen went wasted as none of them could be converted. In the last minutes of the first half Salgaocar invaded the rivals field and Alvito D’Cunha kissed the goalpost and went out. After changing ends, Salgaocar Sports Club called the shots and got down to business. Alvito D’Cunha combined with Robert Fernandes made numerous attempts but all went futile. Punjab Police too had their chances to take the lead but were unfortunate. In the 70th minute of the game. Seah once again outpaced two defenders and took up an appropriate position before firing in the ball past the custodian to take the lead. In the very next minute Alvito D’Cunha tried to consolidate the lead but the ball went straight into the hands of the goalkeeper, Satish Kumar. |
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Bagan win Kolkata, March 5 Medio Renedy Singh and star striker Jose Ramirez Barreto struck on either side of half time to fashion the seventh win for the local side in 14 outings before HAL reduced the margin through Mulissa Jimmy minutes from the final whistle at the one-sided Salt Lake Stadium exchange. Bagan, who led the charts after the completion of the first leg but then slipped to the seventh position following a string of dismal performances, have now gleaned 25 points, the same as Churchill.
PTI |
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Delhi cagers post
facile win Ludhiana, March 5 Barring the pool ‘A’ super league tie between Gujarat and Chattisgarh that rose to dizzying heights, all other matches in fact proved to be mismatches, with quality fare simply not forthcoming. For the record, in the men’s super league, Karnataka got the better of Kerala 94-64, UP downed Goa 68-24 and Delhi recorded a facile 69-42 win against MP. On the distaff side, MP had the least of problems in disposing of AP 67-52. The hosts start their campaign late today evening. The Chattisgarh cagers raised many an eyebrow before they ran out of steam and ideas towards the fag end of their enthralling contest against fancied Gujarat. Rattled by the early lead their opponents took, Gujarat slipped into a pool of errors, lost control of the situation and when an upset defeat was staring them in the face, pivot H.G. Gohil saved his team the blushes by basketing a last second three- pointer to make the scoreline read 61-58 in favour Gujarat. Earlier, the meet was inaugurated by Mr R.S. Gill, president of the Punjab Basketball Association and IG, Patiala zone. |
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NR lift crown Ludhiana, March 5 Northern Railway, Delhi, with as many as 10 internationals in their ranks, dictated the terms in the first session. Western Railway eves failed to cope with their rival’s speed. The current champions exhibited an attacking hockey and forced Mumbai outfit to be o After wasting four penalty corners during the first 20 minutes of play, Northern Railway succeeded on the fifth one when in the 25th minute, international, Pritam sounded the board to put her team ahead . Four minutes later, Pritam again found the target to increase the lead 2-0. |
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Rural meet results Chandigarh, March 5 Rohtak were the overall champion in wrestling. They defeated Sonepat by the toss of coin as both the districts had eight points each. In the women’s section Fatehabad won, earning 10 points, while Hisar won seven points. In the men’s 58 kg category Sandeep of Rohtak beat Sandeep of Sonepat on points to claim the gold medal. Narinder of Ambala claimed the bronze medal. In the 67 kg category Anoop of Jind defeated Manjit of Rohtak on points to win gold. Shankar of Bhiwani was third. In the 67 kg plus category Jaldeep of Sonepat defeated Surajmal of Bhiwani by fall to take gold. Davender of Jhajjar won bronze. Karnal men won the volleyball title defeating Bhiwani 25-17, 25-17, 25-17. Kurukshetra won the bronze medal. In the women’s section Kurukshetra bagged gold, Sirsa took silver and Jind the bronze medal. In women’s kabaddi, Rohtak won gold, Kurukshetra the silver and Bhiwani won the bronze. |
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Auditmen
triumph Chandigarh, March 5 This was followed by another aggressive move when Vinay Knawar struck to make it 2-0. The lead was maintained till the end of the match. Rajasthan players tried to come back into the game, but in vain. Strong defence of Haryana thwarted moves of Kota players to reduce the margin. |
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