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Friday,
March 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Germany overcome Korea India overwhelm Spain
WORLD CUP DIARY |
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Douglas Marillier’s blistering assault stuns Zaheer, India Gavaskar comments Sachin, Sidhu top Warne’s list
Sangakkara puts Lanka in command
Gopi’s campaign ends in tears Punjab eves qualify despite losing
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Germany overcome Korea
Kuala Lumpur, March 7 The scorching pace set by Australia kept the Dutch under tremendous pressure as they grappled to put into action an effective gameplan. However ,they could do little in the face of a sustained Australian
onslaught.
Australia opened the account through Scott Webster in the 10th minute. Jamie Dwyer made it 2-0 in the 12th minute and Matthew Smith added the third in the 42nd minute to force the Dutch into submission. The last goal for Australia was scored by Jamie Dwyer again in the 52nd minute before the Netherlands pulled one back in the 64th minute when Menno Booij scored with an indirect hit off a penalty corner. Bernhard Peters’ squad displayed unique resilience, maturity and team spirit to reach the pinnacle where history beckons them to script a new chapter in international hockey. Germany have never won the gold in the World Cup and their best showing so far has been the silver in the fifth edition at Bombay in 1982. The Koreans, nevertheless, deserve full credit for the gallant fightback. In fact it were they who shocked Germany with an early strike. A cross from the left saw Woon-Kon Yeo lunging forward for a deft placement in the fifth minute as German custodian Arnold Clemens stared in disbelief. The cheers had hardly died down when Germany hit back with the equaliser two minutes later. Following the push off a penalty corner, skipper Florian Kunz left a dummy for Bjorn Michel whose rasping hit was bang on target (1-1). The score remained tied 1-1 till haf time. After the breather, the Germans stepped up the pace and in the 41st minute, a cross from the right corner was enough for Christoph Bechmann to deflect the ball in without much difficulty (2-1). Korea came back firing on all cylinders to equalise six minutes later. Woon-Kon Yeo managed to move into the ‘D’ from the right and his quick pass for Kyung-Seok Kim saw the latter hitting home from a difficult angle (2-2). Germany had a narrow miss when a hard hit by Christoph Bechmann sailed over the bar. In the 56th minute, Germany scored again and the goal proved decisive. A hard hit by Christoph Bechmann from the left flank was deflected into the net with clinical precision by Matthias Witthaus, who simply stretched out his stick to send the ball home. The hit had immense power and Korean custodian Yoon Kim simply stood dazed. With time running out, Korea went all out to come back into the game. A move by Jong-Ho Seo on the left looked threatening but he was checked in time by Sebastian Biederlack and when the hooter blew, Germans from the bench rushed on to the field to congratulate their team-mates for taking the team to the threshhold of history. Germany had five shots at the goal while Korea had only two. Pakistan managed to chalk out a hard-fought 2-1 win over hosts Malaysia in a fight for the 5-8 positions. The ever-reliable Sohail Abbas put Pakistan ahead in the 19th minute off a short corner. In the 53rd minute, Shahbaz Ahmed’s brilliant field goal silenced the large home crowd but six minutes later Malaysia fought back and made it 1-2 when Tajol Rosli Mohamed converted a penalty corner. Thereafter, the Malaysians toiled hard to restore parity but failed to beat the strong Pakistan defence. Malaysia earned five penalty corners while Pakistan forced three. Earlier, Belgium notched up their first victory in the World Cup, edging out Poland 2-1. The highlight of the Belgian victory was a fine brace by Marc Coudron. After a barren first half, Belgium managed to open their account in the 41st minute through a field goal scored by Coudron. Three minutes later, Coudron was once again on target when he converted a penalty corner. Poland managed to reduce the margin in the 54th minute through a field goal scored by substitute Krzysztof Witczak. Cuba crashed to their eighth consecutive defeat, losing 1-5 to South Africa after trailing 1-4 at half time. The scorers for South Africa were Justin King (9th), Greg Nicol (10th, 30th), Gregg Clark (11th), and Emile Smith (57th). For Cuba, Edel Beny Sayas Gonzalez was the lone scorer in the 27th minute. Cuba created a record of sorts by forcing as many as 16 penalty corners while South Africa could earn only one. Argentina got past England 2-1 through the golden goal after the two teams were tied 1-1 in regulation time. Jorge Lombi proved to be Argentina’s saviour when he converted a penalty corner in the 79th minute. Argentina had taken the lead through Lombi, who converted a short corner in the 29th minute but England equalised in the 48th minute through Danny Hall, who
scored a field goal. With the match stretching into extra time, all eyes were once again on Lombi who expectedly did not disappoint and his penalty corner hit in the 79th minute was a big blow for the English (2-1).  |
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India overwhelm Spain Kuala Lumpur, March 7 The victory came as a big consolation to the beleagured Indians who failed to find their rhythm in the World Cup initially. The defeats against South Korea, Malaysia, and England had rattled the former champions who struggled to find form after the disastrous outing against Japan. In fact it was only against Poland that India found their winning touch and although the subsequent tie against Australia ended in a 3-4 defeat, the Indians were not disgraced. Today’s victory over the former runners-up was yet another just reward for team-work. From the very start, the Indians were in complete control and Spain, who incidentally shocked Germany in the league, appeared to be a pale shadow of their past. Devesh Chauhan was once again in the first eleven but Dhanraj Pillay was rested. As in the previous match, all players strained every sinew to stamp out the Spanish resistance. It was as early as in the seventh minute that India forged ahead. A move by Daljit, who incidentally has had a good run in the current World Cup, saw his brother Baljit Dhillon making the most of it as he shot home from close range(1-0). Thereafter, India continued to press hard for consolidating the lead but had to wait till the 19th minute when they were
awarded a penalty corner. The subsequent push by Daljit was followed by Jugraj Singh’s fine drag flick which gave Spanish custodian Bernardino Herrera absolutely no chance(2-0). The Indian goal had a narrow escape soon after when Devesh had moved out of charge to thwart a Spanish move but Thirumalvalavan effected a fine save with a timely deflection. A subsequent short corner for Spain also failed as Jordi Quintana shot over the bar. A counter attack by India followed but the series of raids were successfully checked by goalkeeper Bernardino. Spain also hit back through Pol Amat but Indian custodian Devesh was unbeatable. And then followed the third goal for India. Following an unsuccessful attempt by Daljit, Deepak Thakur capitalised on the rebound to put the ball in the net (3-0). The Indian defence effectively manned by Dilip Tirkey and Jugraj Singh, had good support from Sukhbir Gill whose interception and tackling was flawless. Midfielder Baljit Saini was a source of inspiration to the midfield while Prabhjot Singh lent big support to the attack led by the Dhillon brothers and junior world cupper Deepak Thakur. Shortly before the interval, Daljit made another good attempt but the Spanish goalkeeper rose to the occasion to thwart the move. The second half was also, more or less, dominated by India but further success eluded them. Going by match statistics, India had nine shots at the goal while Spain had seven. Spain were awarded eight penalty corners while India earned two. Coach CR Kumar said: “We know our strength and the boys played an extraordinary game”. He singled out goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan for special praise for effecting some excellent saves. |
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WORLD CUP DIARY The FIH nominations for the best player awards have drawn flak from various quarters. “Does the IHF mean that Asia has no promising star? Is Asian hockey dying? asked an infuriated official after Germany’s Florian Kunz and Argentina’s Luciana Aymar were presented the awards yesterday. The FIH decision to hold the function in a night club rather than at the National Hockey Stadium, venue of the ongoing World Cup, has also been criticised.”
The event should have been held in front of hockey fans and not just for the pleasure of a handful of FIH officials,” he said.
*** Having kicked up a row by alleging that the umpiring in the match against Germany was biased, Pakistan team manager Brig Khalid Khokhar retreated into his shell yesterday. The telephone operator at the Concorde was instructed not to connect any calls to his room. “I don’t know why but what I do know is that if I connect any call to his room, I will be scolded,” the operator said.
*** Former Dutch coach Maurits Hendriks will take over as the new Spanish trainer to revive the Spaniards’ sinking fortunes. Hendriks, who took Netherlands to the Sydney Olympic gold two years ago, will take over from Tony Forellat after the World Cup. “I was looking for a new challenge and this assignment will provide me with the kind of challenge I am looking for,” said the Dutch today.
*** After the World Cup, another major event is scheduled to be held at Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is the third and final stop of the inaugural World Wrestling Federation International Tour currently under way in Asia. Well known WWF stars, including The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kane, Edge, Big Show, Ric Flair, Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, The Hardy Boyz, Lita and the Dudley Boyz, among others are scheduled to participate. The city will also host the second round of the Formula One World Championship, the 2002 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix from March 15. Ferrari has won all three previous rounds while world champion Michael Schumacher has won the last two. A Total of 100,000 fans are expected to turn up.
*** Advertisement campaigns run by top professionals are a major attraction in the Malaysian capital. The messages are short, crisp and eye-catching. For instance, five lines in the advertisement of a beer company which read: ‘They met at
midnight. The orchestra struck up a tune. He asked her for a dance. The rest was magic. It could only be ...’ have been appreciated by a number of hockey fans. |
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Douglas Marillier’s blistering assault stuns Zaheer, India Faridabad, March 7 Man-of-the-match Marillier, after he hit the winning boundary off Anil Kumble, remained unbeaten on 56 off just 24 balls, which included 10 fours and a six. He faced 21 balls in completing his fifty. Saneth Jayasuriya (17 balls, Simon O’Donnel (18), Shahid Afridi (18), Mrk Boucher (19) are the batsmen to score fifties facing lesser number of balls then Marillier, while Ajit Agarkar (21) and Chris Cairns (21) have consumed the same number of balls. Zaheer had the excellent figures of 8-2-15-4 before the unlikely assault by Marillier, who clobbered Zaheer for 21 runs in his ninth over and 13 runs in his last over as Zimbabwe needed nine runs from the last over. Marillier kept his nerves and hit Anil Kumble twice to the fence to enable his team to make a winning start to the five-match series. Ever-dependable Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell earlier thwarted the Indians with a 111-run partnership for the third wicket which threatened to spoil the Indian chances. In their pursuit of 275-run victory target. After the departure of Andy Flower, who was castled by Kumble after the batsman had scored fluent 71 of 72 balls Indians fancied their chances. But Campbell held firm to keep the Zimbabwean hopes alive. After he was lbw to Zaheer after making 84 a victory looked a certainty for India, which was not to be as Marillier had other ideas. Earlier V.V.S. Laxman made a welcome return to form and scored 75 before being run out, while skipper Sourav Ganguly notched up 75. But it was Ajit Agarkar’s scintillating unbeaten 40 off 19 balls which enabled India reach a seemingly formidable target of 274 for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Middle order batsman Mohammad Kaif chipped in with unbeaten 39 to bolster the Indian total. Scoreboard India: Ganguly st Taibu b Marillier 57 Mongia c Taibu b Streak 25 Laxman run out 75 Dravid lbw b G. Flower 23 Kaif not out 39 Bangar c Friend b Streak 0 Ratra run out 6 Agarkar not out 40 Extras: (lb-1, w-6, nb-2) 9 Total:
(for 6 wkts, 50 overs) 274 Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-123, 3-171, 4-193, 5-193, 6-211. Bowling: Streak 10-0-53-2, Friend 10-0-68-0, Brent 10-0-68-0, Marilliear 10-0-53-1, Grant Flower 10-0-31-1. Zimbabwe: Campbell lbw b Zaheer 84 Wishart b Zaheer 1 Friend b Zaheer 7 A. Flower b Kumble 72 Carlisle c Ratra b Zaheer 23 Ebrahim c Ganguly b Bangar 10 G. Flower c and b Harbhajan 2 Streak c Ganguly b Harbhajan 1 Taibu c Ratra b Bangar 8 Marillier not out 56 Brent not out 1 Extras: (lb-5, w-2, nb-6) 11 Total: (for 9 wkts, 49.4 overs) 276 Fall of Wickets: 1-5, 2-21, 3-132, 4-186, 5-193, 6-198, 7-200, 8-210, 9-252. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 10-2-47-4, Agarkar 8-0-45-0, Bangar 9-0-43-2, Harbhajan Singh 10-1-48-2, Kumble 9.4-0-70-1, Ganguly 3-0-20-0. |
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Gavaskar comments What a fantastic win! Zimbabwe produced some real special cricket to win the first one-day international. It was the kind of victory that makes one-day cricket such an exciting spectacle and brings the crowds flocking in. With this win, the stage is set for an absorbing one-day competition which many would not have thought possible after India beat Zimbabwe in both Tests. The finals of the Ranji Trophy is also currently on and since the board is looking to rotate players so as to give the regulars a bit of rest from the hard schedule ahead, as also to try some new talent, it would have made for a more competitive finals if Zaheer Khan and Sanjay Bangar had been released to play for their respective teams. Srinath could have been rested after the first two games so that Zaheer could have played the finals. Unfortunately, the board only goes half-way instead of the full jump because they shifted the dates of the quarterfinals but did nothing about ensuring that both the teams in the finals were at full strength. The domestic tournaments need to be toughened and made more competitive so that the transition from the first-class level to the international one is not too hard. The experiment of opening the batting with Mongia was interesting, but it makes better sense to have a left and right-hand combination, especially since there is a stricter application of the wide-ball rule and bowlers never find it easy to keep changing their line as the batsmen rotate the strike. Of course, as John Wright the Indian coach so tellingly illustrated on the eve of the game, the Indians do not lay much store by singles which help rotate the strike. When things are going good and the batsmen are finding the gaps and the boundaries, then the relative absence of ones and twos doesn’t make much of a difference, but in a low scoring or close contest it does. It would be interesting to see how many dot balls, singles and twos were scored by the Indians in their innings here. The simple story is that taking ones and twos is hard work and are the Indians prepared to do that? Considering the fact that they are not an outstanding fielding side, it’s most crucial that they do not have many dot balls when they are batting. Zimbabwe showed great character in keeping their cool in the dying moments of the game. In fact the dying seconds were brought to life by that stupendous display by Marillier who played some incredible shots to take his side home with just a couple of deliveries to spare and only No. 11 for company. Those shots where he helped the ball along over the keeper’s head were truly awe-inspiring and must surely have shattered India’s morale. To steer his side to a victory with only the tailenders with him requires something special and Marillier provided that. It’s only the first match so India need not panic, but any complacency that they may have had would hopefully have vanished by now. They know now they have a fight on their hands and it may well be that Tendulkar’s and Srinath’s rest may be a short one indeed.
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Sachin, Sidhu top Warne’s list Sydney, March 7 Tendulkar has punished Warne time and again while the leg-spinner had admitted in his autobiography that he probably received his worst hammering at the hands of Sidhu in a Sharjah tournament. Warne, who has bagged 436 wickets behind West Indian great Courtney Walsh’s record of 519, rated ‘the Gatting ball’ which mocked England’s Mike Gatting and zoomed Warne’s career and the leg break which bowled West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul in Sydney in 1996-97 as his best deliveries in an interview to the Sydney Morning Herald. The controversial cricketer, who wanted to be remembered as one who helped put spin bowling back on the cricket map along with Anil Kumble, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq, said losing the 1996 World Cup final was his greatest disappointment. “The voyage has been fantastic. I’ve been very, very happy with my career and I wouldn’t change too many things. I would like people to remember that I never gave in, no matter what the situation, I always tried to win the game and gave 100 per cent. “Some days it wasn’t good enough, other days it was. I would hope that anybody who has watched me play would see how much I just love playing,” 32-year-old Warne, who was embroiled in the bookies’ scandal, stripped of vice-captaincy over a phone-sex incident, told the paper.
PTI
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Sangakkara puts Lanka in command Lahore, March 7 The stylish wicketkeeper batsman hit a sparkling career best 230 as the visitors reached 447 when stumps were drawn four overs before stipulated 90 overs. Sri Lanka now lead Pakistan by 213 runs on Pakistan’s first innings score of 234. Chaminda Vaas and Hashan Tillekeratne, both without scoring, were at the crease when stumps were drawn an hour later than scheduled as the last 18 overs were bowled under lights at the Gaddafi Stadium. Sangakkara drove, cut and pulled to perfection to put Pakistan’s much-touted pace quartet to the sword and notch up the sixth double hundred by a wicketkeeper batsman in Test cricket. “It was very tough initially as we lost Marvan Atapattu on the very first delivery but batting with (Sanath) Jayasuriya made it easy,” Sangakkara said. “When I get a hundred I hope it’s more than that, but (I was) disappointed to lose my wickets in the dying moments, he said. The 24-year-old from Colombo passed his previous Test best of 140 made against the West Indies at Galle in November last year and also recorded the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan against Pakistan, beating team-mate Atapattu’s 204 not out in Kandy two years ago. “We are in a good position as Sangakkara batted very well and from now on if we add some more runs we have a very good chance,” captain Jayasuriya said. Sangakkara was finally dismissed with seven overs left for the day when he edged to first slip where Younis Khan completed the catch off Abdur Razzaq, two short of Zimbabwean Andy Flower’s 232 against India at Nagpur two years ago - the highest by a wicketkeeper batsman in Test cricket. He reached his 200 with a swift flick off Mohammad Sami taking 394 minutes off 272 balls spiced with 27 fours and three sixes and was associated in two solid stands of 203 with skipper Jayasuriya for the second wicket and run-a-minute 173 for the third wicket with Mahela Jayawardene. Jayasuriya was unlucky to miss his hundred when he was smartly snapped up by wicketkeeper Rashid Latif off Abdur Razzaq. The Sri Lankan captain hit 14 boundaries during his 235 minutes at the crease. The visitors put on 106 in the session between lunch and tea as both Sangakkara and Jayawardene looked in an imperious form. Pakistan (Ist innings): 234 Sri Lanka (Ist innings): Atapattu c Akhtar b Waqar 0 Jayasuriya c Latif b Razzaq 88 Sangakkara c Waqar b Razzaq 230 Jayawardena c Haq b Sami 6 Arnold b Akhtar 44 Vaas not out 0 Tillekeratne not out 0 Extras (b-1 lb-5 nb-7 w-4) 17 Total (for five wickets) 447 Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-203 3-376 4-447 5-447 Bowling:
Waqar 24-2-105-1, Akhtar 19-2-96-1, Sami 29-3-106-1, Razzaq 22-4-63-2, Shoaib Malik 10-1-45-0, Afridi 3-0-26-0.
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Karthik spins Railways back into
tie New Delhi, March 7 On a day when 11 wickets tumbled India discard Murali Karthik walked away with the honours with a magnificent spell of five for 51. This was his fifth five-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy this season, despite missing one match, to have a total haul of 38 wickets. Karthik was given able support by medium-pacer Harvinder Singh and Jai Prakash Yadav, who claimed three and two wickets, respectively. The only difference was that instead of Harvinder Singh, as is the normal practice, it was Murali Karthik, who provided the vital breakthroughs to have Baroda in knotts. Baroda, who resumed at 17 for no loss, were shot out for 169 in their first innings, in reply to Railways’ first innings score of 253. Baroda, who batted for five overs to make 17 yesterday, folded up for 169 in 74 overs after 330 minutes of batting, 35 minutes after the tea break. The 80-run opening wicket partnership between Connor Williams and Satyajit Parab was the redeeming feature of Baroda’s innings. The going was good in the morning for Baroda as Williams and Parab batted with caution, yet showed aggression in spurts, to gather runs at a quick pace. But once Murali Karthik came on the scene, the script changed dramatically as he bowled with a steady line and length to lure the batsmen to their doom. On a turning track, the ball kept low, though Murali admitted that there was no devil in the wicket. Had the batsmen applied themselves to the task on hand, they could have avoided a collapse, but they somehow failed to read Murali well, and fell one after other, at regular intervals. Murali claimed two wickets before lunch, and three after the meals, to shatter the Baroda batting. Parab was the first to go when Murali forced him to offer a catch to Khanolkar at cover. Seven runs later, Connor Williams too was back in the pavilion. From 87 for two, India discard wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia and Jacob Martin took the score to 110 for two at lunch. But immediately after lunch, Martin played on to his wicket one from Harvinder Singh, to be out for 12, while Tushar Arothe and Atul Badade were removed by Murali in the space of one run, as Baroda slumped to 125 for five. Murali then got rid of the stubborn Mongia for 32 (4x4, 142m, 91b) to cripple the Baroda batting. Harvinder Singh and Jai Prakash Yadav then polished off the tail to give Railways a vital first innings lead. Though Railways lost Jai Prakash Yadav for four, in their second innings, Amit Pagnis (24 batting, 4x4, 60b, 80m) and Tejinder Pal Singh (3, batting, 40m) saw through the rest of the day’s overs to help Railways make 37 for one at close of play. Scoreboard Railways (Ist innings) 253 Baroda (Ist innings):
C Williams b Kartik 24, S Parab C Khanolkar b Kartik 53, N Mongia c Khanolkar b Kartik 32, J Martin b Harvinder 12, T Arothe c Sharma b Kartik 2, A Bedade b Kartik 2, A Bhoite c Khanolkar b Harvinder 17, Y Pathan c Parida b Yadav 7, R Patel not out 8, V Buch c Yadav b Harvinder 0, S Joshi c and b Yadav 1. Extras: (b-3, nb-8) 11. Total: (all out in 74 overs) 169. Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-87, 3-112, 4-124, 5-128, 6-138, 7-160, 8-160, 9-164. Bowling: Harvinder Singh 15-4-35-3, Zakir Hussain 7-0-39-0, Murali Kartik 22-6-51-5, Jayprakash Yadav 28-13-31-2, Kulmani Parida 2-0-10-0. Railways (2nd innings): J P Yadav lbw b Joshi 4, A Pagnis batting 24, J P Singh batting 3. Extras: (b-2, lb-1, nb-1, w-2) 6 Total: (for one wkt in 19 overs) 37. Fall of wicket: 1-13. Bowling: Rakesh Patel 6-4-5-0, Shekhar Joshi 6-1-21-1, Ajit Bhoite 4-3-3-0, Valmik Buch 3-1-5-0. |
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Anand holds Kasparov Linares (Spain), March 7 Kasparov continues to lead the table on five points from eight games and is a half-a-point adrift of world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine from eight games. Anand is third along with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine on 4.5 points from nine games. The excitement continued in the 10th round which produced two decisive games and the draw between Anand and Kasparov was fought till the last. It was a repetition of the King pawn opening in which Anand faced the Nazdorf Sicilian with white pieces. The Indian opted for the English attack on expected lines and rolled his kingside pawns to gain space. Kasparov on the other hand was up to the task in the ensuing complexities and got his share of counter attack on the queenside with the right deployment of pieces.
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Gopi’s campaign ends in tears Birmingham, March 7 Gopichand was beaten 3-7, 7-1, 4-7 by the unseeded 20-year-old Malaysian, Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, and it was the first time in 13 years that a defending champion had gone out on the opening day. It was not entirely unexpected as it was the Indian’s first tournament in three months since sustaining a stress fracture, but it came as an enormous shock to Gopichand, who declined to come for interview afterwards. “Though it was disappointing, no-one should be surprised” said coach Sanjay Sharma, speaking on Gopichand’s behalf. “He had his leg in a cast until February 5 and the doctor only allowed him to practise after February 20. He is a very precise player and had not had enough training or match practice to play his normal game, and that was clearly why he was unable to get into the match today.” Gopichand very nearly did get back into the match after going 0-6 down in the third game. Point by point he edged back to parity with some accurate clears and sudden ambushing attacks, only to put a round-the-head smash into the net at 6-6, making the crowd gasp. Gopichand also had a game point at 7-7 but sent a clear long and then lost the sudden death finish to the game when he pushed a low service return into the net. The end came with a rush from 4-4 in the fourth game with four brilliant rallies from Hashim, who by now was playing well above his world ranking position of 23. He produced two deft kills at the net and a round-the-head smash winner, and then an extraordinary reflex block off his face to turn defence into attack on match point. “I am very happy to have won,” said Hashim, who had never won a match at the All-England until this year. “I feel like jumping around but I shall try to take one match at a time.” The next match is against the 12th seeded Bao Chunlai of China Earlier, Gopichand had made an encouraging start to the defence of his All-England title with a victory in only half an hour. Gopichand beat England’s Mark Burgess 7-3, 7-0, 7-4 an impressive effort for a man who had not played a match since December. Another member of the Indian squad, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, was also involved in a seeding upset, though in his case he caused it. His victim was the 14th rated Sainal Amay Ayob of Malaysian, whom Gupta beat 7-5, 7-2, 7-0.
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Punjab eves qualify despite losing Ludhiana, March 7 As the Tamil Nadu girls stretched the lead to a 22-point margin, the hosts found the opponents too hot to handle. However, the Punjab eves still made it to the knock-out stage from their pool, despite just one win against two reverses. In the men’s section, four time national champions Tamil Nadu stayed on course for yet another title win by showing the door to a hapless Kerala. So confident were the holders rested two of their key players — S.Robinson and M.S Sabeer for the match. Punjab men put to shade the pathetic performance of their women’s team by registering a resounding 80-45 win against West Bengal. There was a note of vibrancy in the attack after Parminder (senior) and pivot Gagnesh Kumar galvanised it and assessed from the number of chances created by the duo, the lead could have increased considerably had it not been for the element of complacency that crept in the host’ ranks towards the end. Results: (women’s): Kerala b Punjab 91-67, UP b Uttranchal 42-20, AP b Delhi 85-46, TN b Karnataka 83-38, TN b Punjab 92-47 (men): Railways b WB 94-49, TN b Kerala 72-45, Delhi b MP 65-42, Gujarat b Chhattisgarh 61-58, J&K b Gujarat 79-68, Punjab b WB 80-45. |
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Punjab Rural
Games open today Jalandhar, March 7 Giving this information Mr Kartar Singh, Director, Sports, Punjab, said more than 1,600 players and 150 officials from all the 17 districts of Punjab will take part in the three-day meet. Competition in nine games will be conducted. These are hockey, athletics, kabaddi, weightlifting (boys and girls) volleyball, football and wrestling (boys), kho-kho and gymnastics (girls). Mr Kartar Singh told reporters every participant will be given a track suit and a pair of shoes. |
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What a fantastic win! Zimbabwe produced some real special cricket to win the first one-day international.
It was the kind of victory that makes one-day cricket such an exciting
spectacle and brings the crowds flocking in.
