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Monday,
April 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Paes quells Kiwi challenge Indians win by nine wickets Kiwis face severe test in Sharjah
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‘Poor showing due
to complacency’
2 Chinese swimmers
test positive Anand to fight for ninth place East Bengal prevail over Punjab cops
Rural games at
Mansa, Sangrur Punjab in final Sheesh Mahal tournament Bhupinder Sr
to lead
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Paes quells Kiwi challenge
Wellington, April 7 Paes’ histrionics over the last three days, winning both his singles and combining with Mahesh Bhupathi to win the crucial doubles, propelled India to their first ever victory over New Zealand in a Davis Cup tie. India had lost all their three encounters in 1975, 1976 and 1978. After Paes and Bhupathi defeated Daniel Willman and James Shortall 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a rain-affected doubles tie, Paes gave India an unassailable 3-1 lead with a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Kiwi No 1 one Mark Nielson. Later, in an inconsequential best-of-three fifth rubber, India’s Harsh Mankad beat James Shortall 7-5, 6-3. India had stumbled at the post last year, going down to a formidable USA 1-4 at Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the World Group qualifiers. For Paes it was yet another Davis Cup tie where he had to win three back-to-back matches to see India through. This time it was even tougher as he first had to finish off the doubles. He cruised to 2-0 lead winning the first two sets and was leading 3-2 in the third when rain came to the rescue of Neilsen. Paes then fought off a tremendous comeback by the Kiwi, who pushed it into the decider winning the third and fourth sets. He finally won converting his fourth match point after Neilsen had saved the first three. Indian captain Ramesh Krishnan said he always had confidence in Paes, and the brief reversal in fortunes in the third and fourth sets showed only Neilsen’s fighting spirit. A relieved Paes was happy that he helped India to their first win over New Zealand. “The fact that we had not won against New Zealand was always at the back of our mind,” Paes said. Paes said losing the third and fourth sets was more due to mental tiredness. “It was more of a mental tiredness,” he said adding “you have to give credit to Neilsen for the way he came back into the match.” Neilsen, 396 in ATP rankings, more than made up for his inexperience with sheer grit. The Kiwi matched the Indian, the most successful active Davis cupper, with his
power packed game, although he lacked Paes’ improvisation skills. Showing no signs of tiredness, Paes called the shots from the word go with his crisp serve and volley game and forced Neilsen to save a break point in the first game of the match. He got the break in the fifth game after Neilsen double faulted on break point set up by Paes with a deft drop shot. Neilsen tried to undo the damage with some glorious forehand
passes on either side of the court but Paes’ top class serving helped him cling on the slender lead and win the first set 6-4. In the third game of the second set, Neilsen, facing three break points, tried to charge to the net and made volleying errors to lose serve. He again lost serve in the fifth and ninth game but there was enough indication of what was in store for Paes as he won the sixth game before conceding the set 3-6. Neilsen began to come forward more often and after dropping serve in the second game of the third set he broke back immediately to level the scores 2-2. Then came the rain and the Kiwi regrouped and came back to win the third and fourth sets 6-4, 6-2 to push the match into the decider. Even as one thought that the marathon match had taken its toll on Paes’ overworked legs, the amazing Indian ran away to a 5-0 lead in the decider, breaking Neilsen thrice. A dejected Kiwi showed his disgust by throwing down his racquet as he sank to his chair. After Neilsen managed to open his account in the fifth set, winning the sixth game, Paes went 40-0 up to have three match points and the Indian supporters got ready to celebrate. But Neilsen was not ready to give up and punished three second serves from Paes to force a
deuce. That was it as Paes settled the tie with two big serves. Earlier in the morning, bright sunshine came as a contrast to yesterday’s dark sky when heavy rain delayed the start of the doubles match by four hours. Resuming the match leading 6-4, 6-3 the Indian pair continued their good form and produced explosive tennis to win the match with ease. The pair played as if they were men possessed, and there was a certain urgency in their game. Once again they broke Willman in third game to surge ahead 2-1 and it seemed to be smooth sailing for the former world No 1 pair until, serving for the match at 5-4, Bhupathi’s serve came under pressure. The Kiwis tried to build on a double fault by Bhupathi, also saving a match point, forcing two break points. But the Indians’ maturity in handling the big points came to the fore as they ruthlessly killed the opponents’ challenge.
PTI |
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Indians win by nine wickets Georgetown (Guyana), April 7 The Indians, who enjoyed a 130-run first innings lead, knocked off the required 39 runs in 16.1 overs to complete the formality, but not before Deep Dasgupta was trapped leg before wicket for 19 when the scores were tied. Shiv Sunder Das remained unbeaten on 18 while V V S Laxman could not open his account. The Indians had earlier bowled out the home team for 168 runs in their second innings. Veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble led the charge for the visitors with a five wicket haul as the Board President's XI failed to negotiate the full-strength Indian attack for the second time in the match. The only resistance came from wicketkeeper Vishal Nagamootoo, who notched up the highest score of the match with a defiant 78. It was mainly due to his efforts that Guyana XI, who resumed at their overnight 52 for five, were able to save an innings defeat. The Indian openers took it easy and were more keen to spend as much time as possible in the middle rather than finishing the game off. But the Indians still found the practice not enough and decided to play a hurriedly arranged limited overs game after the match. PTI Scoreboard Guyana Board President’s XI (1st innings): 118 Indians (1st innings): Das c Nagamootoo b Dasrath 20 Dasgupta run out 6 Ganguly c Arjune b Dasrath 52 Tendulkar c Pooran b Griffith 18 Dravid b Griffith 2 Laxman c Pooran b Harinarine 43Bangar not out 76 Kumble c Dowlin b Harinarine 7Singh c Dasrath b Harinarine 1 Srinath lbw b Basil 0 Zaheer c Deonarine b Dasrath 11 Extras: (lb-8, nb-2, w-2) 12 Total: (all out, 99 overs) 248 Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-42, 3-94, 4-102, 5-104, 6-186, 7-203, 8-205, 9-205. Bowling: Griffith 20-7-46-2, Thomas 17-5-50-0, Dasrath 21-6-49-3, Basil 18-6-41-1, Harinarine 23-6-54-3. Guyana Board President’s XI (2nd innings): Gonsalves lbw b Srinath 18 Arjune c and b Harbhajan 13 Deonaraine b Srinath 0 Dowlin b Kumble 15 Pooran batting 4 Basil b Kumble 0 Extras: (nb-1, lb-1) 2 Total: (for 5 wkts, 18 overs) 52 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-24, 3-44, 4-48, 5-52. Bowling: Srinath 5-2-12-2, Zaheer Khan 5-0-23-0, Sanjay Bangar 3-1-7-0, Kumble 3-1-5-2, Harbhajan Singh 2-1-4-1. PTI Indians (2nd innings): S S Das not out 18 D Dasgupta lbw b Dasrath 19 V V S Laxman not out 0 Extras: (nb-2) 2 Total: (for 1 wkt, 16.1 overs) 39 Fall of wicket: 1-38 Bowling: Griffith 7-2-15-0, Thomas 5-2-15-0, Dasrath 3-1-6-1, Deonaraine 1.1-0-3-0. PTI
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Kartik scalps 6 Bloemfontein (South Africa), April 7 Kartik, who was the top-scorer in the Indian innings with a finely crafted 59, returned figures of six for 101 from 49 overs. Medium pacer Debasish Mohanty claimed three wickets for 77 runs. For South Africa ‘A’, Peterson top-scored with 108 while 19-year-old Indian-origin cricketer, Hashim
Amla, made 82 runs. Both were dismissed by Kartik. Brief scores: India ‘A’: 291. South Africa ‘A’: 469 (Peterson 108, J Rudolph 97, H Amla 82; Kartik 6-101, Mohanty 3-77).
PTI |
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Kiwis face severe test in Sharjah Sharjah, April 7 The towering presence of Nathan Astle alone in the ranks of the Black Caps will keep rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka on their toes in what promises to be an enthralling $250,000 event. Few batsmen in recent times have savaged the opposing bowlers in such spectacular fashion as Astle did in the recent home series against England. He struck the fastest double century in Test cricket at Christchurch in 153 balls, the second hundred coming off just 39 deliveries. By the time he was dismissed for 222 off 168 balls, Astle had struck 28 boundaries and 11 sixes in a brilliant display of power hitting that stunned team-mates and rivals alike. Astle followed that with 65 off 51 balls at Auckland to set up New Zealand’s amazing victory in the final Test and square the series. With Astle lining up against two of the most feared strikers in the game, Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi of Pakistan, fans in this popular desert venue are assured of a batting feast. “Astle is batting like a champion and we hope he will continue in the same vein,” said Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming soon after his squad’s arrival here this morning. Despite injuries to six frontline players — star all-rounder Chris Cairns, fast bowlers Shane Bond, Dion Nash and Shayne O’Connor, spinner Daniel Vettori and batsman Lou Vincent — New Zealand are confident of doing well. “The important thing is to adjust to the conditions,” Fleming said. “From the cold weather at home to the heat here is a big change, but we should be okay by the time we play our first match.” New Zealand, who are due to tour Pakistan for a Test series immediately after the April 17 final here, play Sri Lanka in their opening match on Tuesday. While the Kiwis are clearly the flavour of the month, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are quiet confident of starting their preparations for next year’s World Cup on a winning note. Pakistan have recalled veteran all-rounder Wasim Akram and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq after keeping them out of the Asian Test final against Sri Lanka last month. The Sri Lankans too are at full strength, hoping to use the tournament as a build-up for the upcoming Test tour of England and the World Cup in South Africa in February-March. “With the World Cup less than a year away, our aim is obviously to prepare for that, but each victory from now onwards will contribute to that,” Jayasuriya said. Both New Zealand and Sri Lanka are drawn in the same World Cup preliminary group. Pakistani captain Waqar Younis, whose team plays Sri Lanka in tomorrow’s opening match, said the return of Akram and Saqlain had beefed up his team for what he believed would be a tough contest. “It’s a tournament which will be fought hard between three well-matched teams,” Waqar said. “I am glad Akram and Saqlain are back to lend their experience.” Each team plays the other twice in the preliminary rounds, with the top two advancing to next week’s final. AFP
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Reetinder hopes to be fit soon Patiala, April 7 Out of competitive cricket due to a back stress fracture, life certainly has been cruel to the gritty Patiala sardar, as he has been forced to sit out, just when it seemed he was making his presence felt in the pressure cooker cauldron of international cricket. Sodhi suffered the injury when he dived on his follow through in an effort to stop a full-blooded shot during the Challenger Trophy series held in Bangalore in February. “I dived to stop a stinging shot and the moment I tried to get up, I felt a terrible pain in my back and at that very moment I knew something had drastically gone wrong,” Sodhi disclosed with a customary shrug of the shoulders and a wry smile. However, only a blind man can fail to see the forlorn look in his eyes, as the Indians have a hectic international schedule ahead and it was an ideal opportunity for young Sodhi to cement his place in the team. Sodhi met Indian team physio Andrew Leipus in Mohali when India played Zimbabwe in a one-dayer last month. Leipus referred the cricketer to the BCCI Dr Ananth Joshi in Mumbai. Sodhi underwent a couple of tests and accordingly it was revealed that he was suffering from a stress fracture (L-4) in the vertebra of the back’. The BCCI has reimbursed the expenses incurred by Sodhi during his 12-day stay in Mumbai, where he was put up at the Garware Stadium Club of Wankhede Stadium. The cricketer was given an elaborate rehabilitation exercise plan by Dr Joshi which Sodhi is religiously adhering to. The tenacious Punjab performer might not have found a place in the team for the Carribean tour but his eyes light up when discussion veers around to the series against England in July. Says a philosophical Sodhi “If you are hurt and you smile, you are half cured.” He is all smiles when asked whether he will be a vital cog in his country’s wheel of fortunes, if they are to do well in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Says Sodhi “ Hopefully I will regain full fitness by then and I will give 100 per cent if selected.” As of now, the Patiala cricketer is following the rigorous rehabilitation programme with religious zeal, although it may take more than a month for him to be fully fit. Reetinder may not be the most talented cricketer on view, yet there is little doubting his zest and commitment to hardwork. |
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Japan Open title for Lee Tokyo, April 7 The eighth-ranked South Korean, the runner-up last year here, unleashed an array of lightning smashes in the final game to go up to 3-0 on his way to a stunning 5-7, 7-5, 0-7, 7-5, 7-2 victory over the Asian champion. “I knew that no Korean player has ever won the singles here. I’m really happy that I became the first Korean to win it, and I’m really happy to win such a big tournament,” said Lee after the 59-minute final. “Xia is a tough opponent, he is speedy. Although he seemed to have the momentum, I just tried not to make a mistake,” said the Korean, who stormed back from 1-4 and 2-5 down in the fourth game to tie the contest. “My biggest goal is the Athens Olympics. I’m going to do my best to qualify for the Olympics and hopefully I can win the gold medal.” It was only his second title in the Grand Prix series, following his victory at the US Open in September last year. It was also his first win over Xia after losing their previous three matches, including a first-round loss two years ago here. Lee, who will turn 22 in 10 days, received an early birthday gift of the $14,400 first prize. Xia, the 2000 All-England champion who surprisingly failed to clear the third round at Birmingham last month, collected the runner-up prize of $7,200. Lee’s victory was the second of the day for South Korea. All-England mixed doubles champion Ra Kyung-Min teamed up with Lee Kyung-Won to win their first Japan title in the women’s doubles, beating All-England women’s champions Gao Ling and Huang Sui 7-5, 1-7, 7-2, 6-8, 7-1. It was a third title that Ra and Lee have won together following their two victories at the Swiss Open in 2001 and last month. AFP
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‘Poor showing due
to complacency’
Chennai, April 7 Disagreeing with the complaints from some of the shuttlers that the new format had affected their performances, he said it could just be one of the reasons. “The shuttlers should be little more focussed. They should not be satisfied with whatever they have achieved. Complacency could have contributed to the none-too-impressive performances at the international tournaments last year”, he told UNI in an interview. The major disappointment of the last season was the failure of national champion Pullela Gopichand to retain the All-England title and India failing to qualify for the Thomas and Uber Cup scheduled in China next month.
Gopichand, who was short of practice due to an injury, made an early second round exit in the All-England Championship. There were not many noteworthy performances from the shuttlers in the international events. Admitting that the gap between the top shuttlers and the emerging players was huge, he said the future was ‘not gloomy’. But things could be better, he added. He pointed out that shuttlers like Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Chetan Anand, Aravind Bhat, Siddarth Jain and Nikhil Kanetkar could keep the Indian flag flying in the next few years. However, in the girls section, there were not many shuttlers on the horizon. Prakash, who has been successfully running the BPL Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy for over seven years in Bangalore, said they were constantly on the lookout for talented players. India’s most successful shuttlers of recent times — Gopichand and Aparna Popat — had their initial training in the academy. Later, they decided to go their own way though they were in constant touch with Prakash and his deputy, Vimal Kumar, to hone their skills. He said they would be making some changes in their programmes to make the players mentally more tough. To begin with, the players would have to look after themselves during the international events. “Till now, we were virtually looking after all their needs like travel and boarding and sending entry forms. In future, they will do the job and that will, hopefully, give them the confidence”. He said the existing exchange programmes would continue and the trainees would be given more international exposure.
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2 Chinese swimmers
test positive
Moscow, April 7 Ying Shan, a member of China’s world record-setting 4x100m freestyle team from 1997, and her compatriot Jiawei Zhou have both tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid according to FINA. The news will heap further damage on a federation which in the past came under scathing criticism from rival nations who claimed the Chinese were involved in systematic doping. In 1998 at the world championships in Perth four swimmers - Wang Luna, Cai Huijue and Zhang Yi, and male swimmer Wang Wei — tested positive for the diuretic triamterene. A week previous to those four positive tests Yuan Yuan, and her coach Zhou Zhewen, were disqualified from the championships after Australian customs officers found 13 vials of banned muscle-building human growth hormone in Yuan’s bag. The sport’s world governing body FINA then took radical action by handing out unprecedented bans of 15 years for Zhou and four years for Yuan for trafficking. Ying Shan today became the latest addition to a list of shame that will do little to support Chinese claims that they were cleaning up their act.
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Anand to fight for ninth place
Dubai, April 7 Leko will now meet the winner of the tie between GM Alexei Shirov of Spain and GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia in the finals. After a disastrous loss at the hands of Azmaiparashvili in the second round that put him out of contention for title triumph, the Indian GM seems to have struck form. Playing superbly in the tiebreak games, Anand put it across Radjabov, the youngest GM in fray here, twice and will now fight for the ninth place against former world champion Alexander Khalifman of Russia in the next round. In the match between Leko and Georgiev, it was continued deadlock that brought the match to sudden death. Leko, playing white, had five minutes and he had to win the game to advance to the finals which he managed to in the end. Results: semi-finals: Kiril Georgiev (Bul) lost to Peter Leko. 5-8 place: Anatoly Karpov (Rus) beat Veselin Topalov (Bul); Etienne Bacrot (Fra) lost to Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Geo). 9-12 place: Alexey Dreev (Rus) lost to Alexander Khalifman (Rus); Teimour Radjabov (Aze) lost to Viswanathan Anand (Ind). PTI
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East Bengal prevail over
Punjab cops
Kolkata, April 7 The visitors forged
ahead in the third minute when Parveen Kumar found the mark after
receiving a stray ball. The striker controlled well and calmly placed
in with a grounder to the right of East Bengal custodian Sangram
Mukherjee. Stung by the reverse, East Bengal carried a series of
raids into the opponent territory, but had to wait till the midway of
first session when Nigerian Omolaja restored parity. Soumitra
Chakraborty despatched a pass from the left for Brazilian Jose Carlos
inside the visitors’ box and the latter released a short back pass
to an onrushing Omolaja, whose rasping right footer banged into the
net. Not prepared to give up, the policemen attacked in the very next
minute, but the woodwork stood in the way of a Manjit Singh shot.
Similar fate had befallen Omolaja early in the match when his
power-packed right footer hit the near post, much to the dismay of
East Bengal supporters. After the first half finished 1-1, Omolaja
got the winner in the 53rd minute of the game as he latched on to a
Suley Musah pass, outwitted Rajesh Kumar and then pushed the ball into
the net to score his seventh goal in the ongoing league. East Bengal
continued to mount pressure and the scoreline became 3-1 seconds
before the final whistle. Punjab Police stopper Rajesh Kumar handled
the ball inside his team’s penalty box and Dipendu Biswas coolly
placed home the resultant spot-kick.
Kochin surprise
Salgaocar KOCHI:
FC Kochin, facing relegation to the second division, surprised
Salgaocar, Goa, with a 2-1 win to garner full points in a crucial
match in the sixth National Football League here today. The Goans,
after muffing a couple of chances, were rewarded when Kochin medio
Muhammed failed to tackle a clearance. Denis Cabral took possession
and sent in a long through pass to Ambrose in the opponent’s
territory. Kochin players, hoping for an off-side call, did not
intercept and Ambrose shot home, to the surprise of the local outfit,
who made a vain protest. Even before the Goan celebration could die
down, Kochin were awarded a penalty after Salgaocar captain Coven
Lawrence handled a flag-kick inside the box. Kulothungan, who took the
shot, beat ‘keeper Juje Siddi to level at one all. PTI |
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Rural games at Mansa,
Sangrur Chandigarh, April 7 It has been decided to conduct a clinic at NIS, Patiala to update the knowledge of coaches which will be held next month. Two coaches from each discipline would also attend an all-India coaching seminar being held at Jalandhar from April 26 to 28 which was being organised by the Badminton Coaches Welfare Association of India. JALANDHAR: The Punjab Sports Department has selected 142 players for different games for the current session of State School of Sport and Olympian Surjit Hockey Academy during trials. The Punajb Director Sports, Mr Kartar Singh, stated here that 142 out of 600 participants have been selected. Issuing the list of selected candidates Mr Kartar Singh said that the department would impart these players training in their respective fields. While 16 players have been selected for under-14 category, 25 and 18 players have been selected for under-17 and under-19 categories, respectively, for Olympian Surjit Hockey Academy. Similarly 16 hockey players found place in the list of under-19 category of State School of Sports while seven players have been selected for under-17 volleyball team of the school.
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Punjab in final
Jammu, April 7 For Punjab Sarabjeet Singh netted off a Hardeep Singh pass in the 15th minute. Harjinder Singh made it 2-0 in 72nd minute when he outwitted some of the UP defenders and took a powerful shot that beat the goalkeeper. UP scored against the run of play three minutes later when Mohammad Hadi
Hassan, receiving a pass in the midfield, sped down and penetrated the Punjab defence only to see the rival goalkeeper Jasbir Singh coming out in a desperate attempt to save the goal. But a cool Hassan
dogged past Jasbir to place the ball into the far corner of the net. PTI
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PSEB win football tourney Yamunanagar, April 7 In 19th minute of game Parvinder of P.S.E.B. scored a goal in the first half. In the 61st minute Harjinder Singh scored a second goal to complete the tally. |
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Sheesh
Mahal tournament Lucknow, April 7 Only 10 teams are being entertained in this edition that will be divided into two pools, tournament Organising Secretary M. Askari Hasan said here today. He said the matches will be played simultaneously at the K.D. Singh Babu and Chowk stadia. All the teams will play in their respective pools on a league basis after which two teams from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals to be played on a knock-out basis. The semi-finals and finals will be played at the K D Singh Babu stadium, the secretary informed.
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Bhupinder Sr to lead Chandigarh, April 7 The Board for Veteran Cricket in India (BVCI) is organising the championship. Other members of the team are: Bhupinder Singh (Capt) Mahesh Inder Singh, Arun Sharma, Surjeet Rai, Arun Bedi, Krishan Mohan, Munish Arora, Satish Mangal, Bhandari Lal, Ashwani Razdan, Ajit Singh, Roop Basant, Avash Paul, Harmeet Singh, Tony Lamba, Arun Passi, Vijay Gatta, Devinder Kalia, Ashwani Kumar, Ravi Shankar, Ashu , Manu Mishra Tilak Raj Bhatia. Punjab XI will play their first match against J & K on April 9 at Burlton Park, Jalandhar. |
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