 |
Tuesday,
April 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India   |
Injured Harbhajan may miss first Test Practice game a farce Ganguly defends batsmen |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
‘Players unlikely to
boycott opening tie’
Lanka beat Pak |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
East Zone take on West
today Santoro’s heroics put France in last four
Punjab cops make winning start
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Football team may play in S. Africa Assault charge
against Tyson ‘No misuse of school sports funds’
SGFI to send teams
abroad SZ looking to finish
second PGA Cup Golf
from May 3
|
||||||||
|
Injured Harbhajan may miss first Test
Kolkata, April 8 Harbhajan suffered injury to his right shoulder while fielding during the match against Guyana Board President’s XI in Georgetown and his participation in the first Test is uncertain, according to a message received by BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya here from team physio Andrew Leipus. “Harbhajan Singh experienced an uncomfortable sensation in the right shoulder during a single hard throw from boundary during match against Guyana,” the message from Leipus said. Though Harbhajan bowled three overs after that, he was forced to withdraw from the field for treatment and the team is keeping its fingers crossed till an MRI scan. “Once an objective clinical picture is established, we will be able to provide a better prognosis and his availability for the first Test”, the message said. Leipus said Harbhajan himself was quite positive about his participation in the first Test but “he will have to undergo a full fitness test subsequent to the outcome of the assessment”. Mr Dalmiya said as per subsequent information received from the team management, “Harbhajan was feeling an improvement, subjectively as well as objectively”. Since MRI investigation facilities were not available at Georgetown, Harbhajan has already flown to Trinidad with Leipus for detailed investigation, the board president said. Not leaving anything to chance, the national selectors picked Sarandeep Singh as an emergency replacement through a tele-conference this morning and the board has asked him to be ready to fly to Georgetown at short notice, Mr Dalmiya said. “If the MRI reports of Harbhajan indicate an injury and necessitate rehabilitation during the first Test or if conclusive reports are not available today, the board will not take chance and send Sarandeep Singh as cover,” he said. Georgetown: Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is feeling a slight pain in his bowling shoulder but expressed confidence of playing in the first Test against the West Indies starting on Thursday before he left for Trinidad today to have an MRI scan done. “He was absolutely sure he would be able to play,” said Indian team manager Gautam Dasgupta. “But we would have to wait till he returns from Trinidad”. “He felt a sense of jarring in his shoulder in the dressing room,” Dasgupta said. “The discomfort persisted even when we were back in the hotel. “Harbhajan Singh was then forwarded to physio Andrew Leipus, who after an initial examination said he would like to have an MRI scan done. Since there is no facility in Georgetown, we have sent him to Trinidad with the physio this morning.
PTI |
|
Practice game a farce Georgetown, April 8 The Indians scored only 43 runs from their 21 overs without losing any wicket with Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer hardly showing any inclination to get the runs. Guyana Board President’s XI, who had made 136 for five batting first, were declared winners by 92 runs. The Indians and Guyana XI had mutually agreed to play a limited-overs practice game, foreseeing an early end to their three-day match after the hosts were struggling at 52 for five on the second day needing 131 to avoid an innings defeat. However, the match did not finish that early, consuming more than half the day but the two teams went ahead with the plan as scheduled, playing a 21-overs-a-side game. The Indians wanted to practice for sure. They were keen to let all the 16 members of the side have some hit in the middle and thus fielded men like Tinu Youhanan, Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Mongia, Ajay Ratra and Wasim Jaffer who were not part of the eleven which played the three-day game. But the script did not go as planned. The Indian bowlers were hit all over the park by the surprisingly positive home batsmen who were only able to manage scores of 118 and 168 in the three-day match. Yohannan and Nehra received a battering as did Sanjay Bangar. The hosts could thus set a target in excess of six per over for the visitors. Jaffer and Dravid went out to open and stayed till the end without making any effort to move the scoreboard. A goodly Sunday crowd, in anticipation of some slam-bang cricket, were hugely disappointed. Mr Pravin Dave, CEO, Demerara Bank was one of them. “I think the Indians have been greatly disrespectful to the spectators,” said Mr Dave. But Indian coach John Wright wasn’t amused. “The crowd could have gone home. They came to watch the three-day game and it was over by the afternoon,” Wright said defending his team’s strategy. “We were keen to have some practice and I think the boys got it,” he said. “We looked at it as a practice game in a Test-match situation and it was much better than having nets and I would not fault the batsmen.” It was an assessment nobody in the ground seemed to agree with. Possibly not even captain Saurav Ganguly who left the ground much before the Indian innings was through. Said Chetram Singh, president of the Guyana Cricket Association: “We accommodated the Indians at all turns. It was they who said they wanted the game. It was they who said if Guyana team could take the first strike. After that what they did while batting was very disappointing. It was in a very, very poor taste.”
PTI |
|
Guyana win Kingston, April 8 |
|
|
Ganguly defends batsmen Georgetown, April 8 “I got a good hit, as did Laxman and Bangar. Things will pick up as the tour goes,” Ganguly said. A full Test line-up of the Indians could only score 248 against a weakened Guyana team in 94 overs but Ganguly had an explanation for it. “The better the attack, the more you concentrate. A lot of guys played bad shots when well set but it just doesn’t happen when you are playing against better attacks or possibly Test cricket,” Ganguly said. Nevertheless, the West Indian bowlers earned the respect of the Indian skipper, especially the two medium-fast bowlers Reon Griffith and Rayan Thomas. “These were not bad guys for practice.... not weak at all. Our batting may have looked ordinary but these two fast bowlers were better than quite a few in first class cricket games that we have played. Ganguly said even his bowlers did well to dismiss the Guyana side for 118 and 168 and were instrumental in his side’s nine-wicket victory in the three-dayer.
PTI |
|
‘Players unlikely to boycott opening tie’ Johannesburg, April 8 There have been rumours that players unhappy about selection policies, threats to dock pay and other issues after poor performance against the Australians were threatening boycott as a way of drawing attention to their plight. The South African squad has been under attack for losing five of the seven one-day games already, with just one to go and another drawn against the visiting Australians. Players have been upset about the transformation process of the United Cricket Board of South Africa
(UCBSA) to include more blacks in the team and the captain or the coach not being consulted by the selectors. Rodney Hartman, the Communications Director of the 2003 World Cup, being hosted by South Africa, said he doubted whether this dissatisfaction would lead to a boycott of the opening game in March next year. He said the UCBSA was already working on splitting the amateur and professional codes of the sport and was serious about correcting the state of cricket in South Africa. Hartman said he expected major changes to player issues before the end of the year, so to talk about boycotts was “a little dramatic.” But players, who are barred by their contracts from talking to the media, have privately said the World Cup may be the only platform to make their frustrations internationally known as the event would be televised live worldwide. Meanwhile, UCBSA chief executive Gerald Majola intervened Sunday to stop the convenor of the national selectors, Rushdi
Magiet, from announcing a group of 25 players from whom the World Cup squad would be selected after intensive training.
IANS |
|
|
Lanka beat Pak Sharjah, April 8 Earlier, Pakistan overcame a blistering knock from Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya to keep their rivals down to 242-9 from 50 overs. Jayasuriya, who won the toss and elected to bat, hammered 87 off 78 balls before Pakistan fought back with quick wickets. Sri Lanka Jayasuriya c Latif b Razzaq 87 Sangakkara b Wasim Akram 10 Atapattu c Latif b Akhtar 6 Jayawardene c sub b Razzaq 8 Arnold c Waqar b Saqlain 57 Kaluwitharana c Youhana b
Akhtar 15 Chandana c Khan b Waqar 30 Vaas not out 9 Muralitharan b Shoaib Akhtar 1 Zoysa run out 0 Buddhika not out 1 Extras:
(b-2 lb-2 w-10 nb-4) 18 Total: (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 242 FOW:
1-50, 2-92, 3-110, 4-128, 5-171, 6-223, 7-237, 8-239, 9-239. Bowling: Wasim Akram 10-1-45-1, Waqar Younis 9-0-49-1, Shoaib Akhtar 10-0-30-3, Abdur Razzaq 9-0-49-2, Saqlain Mushtaq 10-0-48-1, Shahid Afridi 2-0-17-0. Pakistan Afridi b Vaas 5 Nazir c Wardene b Fernando 25 Khan c Kalu b Zoysa 7 Haq st Kalu b Murali 37 Youhana c Murali b Fernando 0 Razzaq c Murali b Jsuriya 55 Latif c Vaas b Murali 42 Akram c Zoysa b Murali 6 Younis b Arnold 1 Saqlain M. b Jayasuriya 0 Akhtar not out 2 Extras: 21 Total: 201 for 10 in 45.5 overs. Bowling:
T. Fernando 7.5-1-51-2, M. Muralitharan 10-0-27-3, N. Zoysa 7-1-20-1, C. Vaas 8-1-31-1, U. Chandana 4-0-19-0, R. Arnold 2-0-6-1, S. Jayasuriya 6.5-0-37-2.
AFP
|
|
|
East Zone take on West today Kolkata, April 8 West Zone, who have won the title as many as 17 times, are leading the points table with 21 points from three matches and will be determined to lay their hands on the trophy yet again. Led by former India stumper Nayan Mongia, West Zone start clear favourites with a number of quality batsmen in their ranks but can hardly afford to take lightly the hosts who will be playing in familiar conditions. East Zone have put up a decent show in the championship so far, collecting 14 points from three matches, and are unlikely to surrender meekly despite being a relatively inexperienced team. East Zone had drawn their last match against South Zone in a rain-affected contest in Bangalore but could not get too many points since they had conceded the vital first innings lead. Their opponents West Zone also had drawn the last match against South Zone in Chennai late last month but earned five points for taking the first innings lead. They had registered outright victories against Central Zone and North Zone in their two earlier matches. Despite the absence of a number of top players like Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Wasim Jaffer, who were doing duty for the country in the West Indies, West Zone still look quite formidable as they have a number of players who have been in the selection fringe for some time. The team will be depending on the left-handed Hrishikesh Kanitkar for shouldering the batting responsibility and the middle order batsman has been in good nick right through the season. Apart from Kanitkar, Connor Williams, N. Godbole and Kaushik Aphale are capable of playing a long innings while skipper Nayan Mongia had also proved that he has not lost his appetite for runs. In the bowling department, West Zone will be turning to the two spinners Sairaj Bahutule and Ramesh Pawar to plot the dismissals of the home team batsmen on a track expected to favour batsmen. East Zone have a good batting line up but they have not shown the desired consistency and it remains to be seen whether they can come up with significant contributions in the important match. Debang Gandhi and captain Sanjay Raul were the two most experienced batsmen in the line up and a lot will depend on the duo. Young Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Parag Das and Rajiv Raja were good batsmen but have not been consistent enough. Veteran left arm spinner Utpal Chatterjee will be the main weapon for East Zone skipper Raul, while the other spinner Sourashish Lahiri should give him able support.
PTI |
|
Santoro’s heroics put France in last four
Paris, April 8 Santoro beat Bohdan Ulihrach 7-6 (7/2), 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 in a four-hour-15-minute marathon indoors in the south-western city of Pau yesterday to earn France a last four showdown with the USA in September. “This is without doubt one of the best moments of my career,” said Santoro. “It was very tough and Bohdan was always a dangerous opponent right up until the last point.” The USA took a 2-1 lead into the final day of their quarterfinal in Houston after James Blake and Todd Martin had beaten Alberto Martin and Juan Balcells 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in the doubles and then wrapped up the tie when Andy Roddick brushed aside Alberto Martin 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 yesterday. Russia completed a 4-1 win against Sweden in Moscow to set up a semifinal clash against Argentina who beat Croatia 3-2 in Buenos Aires. In Pau, it was a remarkable performance by Santoro, who was not supposed to play the final singles rubber - he was drafted in as a late replacement for Nicolas Escude, who was suffering from a knee injury. Earlier in the day, the French were in danger of losing their grip on the Davis Cup when their top player Sebastien Grosjean, hampered by a groin injury, lost to Jiri Novak. That had made the overall score in the tie 2-2. It was desperately bad luck for Ulihrach, who was also a five-set loser to Grosjean on Friday. Yesterday, Novak took full advantage of Grosjean’s groin injury to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Grosjean had to call for the physio when trailing 2-4 in the third set and then went off to have his thigh strapped. On his return he immediately dropped his serve to go 2-5 down. Though he fought back by breaking Novak in the next game, the Czech returned the favour by breaking him again and taking the set. In Buenos Aires, Gaston Gaudio led Argentina into the semifinals of for just the sixth time when he brushed aside the challenge of Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic. Gaudio won the decisive final singles rubber 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 after Ivan Ljubicic had earlier brought the tie level at 2-2 when he defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 1-6, 7-6, 6-4. It was a brave challenge by Croatia who had lost both singles on Friday and they suffered for not having a fully fit Goran Ivanisevic at their disposal. The Wimbledon champion, who has been carrying a shoulder injury, did feature in the doubles here on Saturday when he teamed up with Ljubicic to pull off a five set-win. Gaudio was never troubled by Karlovic as he recorded his ninth win in nine singles rubbers in the Davis Cup for Argentina and he will play a major role in the semifinal against Russia in Moscow in September. Russia, who were already 3-0 ahead overnight, completed a 4-1 win over Sweden on the clay courts of Moscow’s Luzhniki Sports Palace. Marat Safin, the 2000 US Open title-winner, and veteran Sydney Olympic champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov ended Russia’s Davis Cup losing streak of four matches against Sweden, by giving their squad an unassailable 3-0 lead after the second day. Yesterday, Sweden grabbed a consolation point when Thomas Johansson beat 21-year-old Russian hope Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets before Andrei Stoliarov claimed the final point when Andreas Vinciguerra was forced to retire after winning the first set 6-4, but 2-5 down in the second. After qualifying on Saturday Russian No 1 Kafelnikov, who already has experience of playing in the Davis Cup finals in the mid-1990s, reaffirmed he would retire should Russia finally win the Davis Cup in December. “The Davis Cup remains my only unfulfilled mission,” he told reporters. “You may laugh, but I was serious. I believe that only two Davis Cup ties are left for me before I quit my career,” the former Australian and French Open champion added. “It may be my last chance to win the trophy and I’m set to do my best to win it. But there are plenty of interesting things other than tennis in the world.” However, the Russians face two more challenges before being able to touch the Davis Cup trophy starting with the semifinal against Argentina in September. Russia failed to win either of their two previous Davis Cup finals, losing in 1994 to Sweden and in 1995 to the USA, both at Moscow’s Olympic indoor stadium.
AFP |
|
Venus should quit, says father Jacksonville, April 8 On the eve of the WTA Tour event at Amelia Island, Williams told the Florida Times-Union that he believes Venus should focus her energies more on business interests. Despite the fact that Venus Williams held the No 1 ranking for a time in March and is currently ranked No 2 in the world, he thinks she’d be better served putting other talents to work. While Richard Williams didn’t advocate a complete career change for Serena, he did say she needed to pay more attention to non-tennis matters.
AFP |
|
|
Punjab cops make winning start Bangalore, April 8 In another match Army XI scored their first win in pool B downing Punjab and Sind Bank by a second half goal scored by Sunil Ekka. A brace of goals through penalty corner conversions by international Baljit Singh Dhillon enabled Punjab Police score past a fighting CISF after leading 2-0 at half time in pool ‘A’. The winners scored the two goals within two minutes with Baljit converting a penalty corner in the 12th minute and later with Tejbir Singh sounding the board. Soon after the breather, CISF managed to reduce the margin through Harish Sharma in the 37th minute. However, Baljit scored again converting a penalty corner in the 55th margin to complete the tally for Punjab Police. CISF fought tenaciously and managed to reduce the margin in the dying minutes through a Partek Kumar goal. The last match of the day proved to be a do or die battle. Two last minute penalty corner conversions by Bikramjit Singh for Railways denied IOC a second victory having beaten Tamil Nadu 2-0 in their first match. Playing impressively, IOC shot into a 2-1 goal early in the first half with Hamza Mujtaba opening the tally converting the first penalty corner in the 15th minute. Three minutes later, captain Deepak Thakur moved in menacingly and sounded the board to make the score 2-0. Indian Railways earned a penalty stroke in the 20th minute when Sunil Yadav stick-checked Iqbal Singh and Johnson Ekka made no mistake in converting the stroke to make it 2-1. The second half saw IOC not only making a valiant attempt to defend the scoreline but also make moves to destabilise the railwaymen. In the 67th minute, Deepak Thakur scored once again to increase the tally to 3-1. The last two minutes saw a flurry of activity as the railwaymen looking for equalisers, relentlessly attacked the IOC citadel. In the process, they earned two penalty corners and Bikramjit Singh made no mistake in converting. Army XI proved to be a better combination today as they blanked Punjab and Sind Bank by a solitary second half goal. The all-important goal came in the 45th minute with Sunil Ekka scoring in the team’s fourth penalty corner.
UNI |
|
|
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Margao, April 8 With only two more rounds to go, Mohun Bagan are heading the table with 41 points and are favourites for the title along with Zee Churchill, who are second with 39 points. Vasco third with 37 points, also have a chance to win the title provided they win tomorrow’s match and Bagan and Churchill lose to Salgaocar and HAL Bangalore, respectively. Vasco has played consistently in the second phase winning six matches, drawing one and losing two and has an edge over ITI, who have lost four, won three and drawn two. The visitors fared
extremely well in the first phase but lost the momentum in the second phase with serious injuries to
their foreign recruits Kenneth Ono, Mike Okoro and John Ono, Syed Hussain and Andrew Lewis which pushed them to seventh position with 30 points. “Our team did well in the first phase and everything was going in right direction and I was hoping that we would win the title but suddenly due to injuries to our key players, our form suffered. Now we have to win both our remaining matches to improve our position and try to be in the first six
position,” ITI coach Krishnaji Rao said. “We will play the same side that played against Mahindras United last. Vasco is a good side, playing consistently but we will go all out for a win,” he said. ITI have Balaji in goal, while Jitesh, K.V. Dhanesh, Firoz and Amandeep will be manning the defence. The midfield has Shamsi Reza, Zaheer, Mohammed Salisu and Kenneth Raj while George Ekeh and Kenneth Ono lead their two-pronged attack on whom they will rely for success. Vasco success will largely depend on their four Brazilians. Medio Marcos Pereira and Abhay Kumar have combined well along with Rui Wanderly Weis to trouble the rival defence. Defenders Seby Dias, Agnelo Coalco, Bhola Dey and Sanjay Parte have given their best along with their reliable keeper Rogerio Ramos. Vasco coach Derrick Pereira said “tomorrow’s match is crucial as a win will give us a chance to be in the race for the title. I expect our boys to play in the same fighting spirit and win tomorrow. ITI is a good side but the injuries to their key players has weakened their
performance and our boys should not remain complacent but win to remain in hunt for the title”.
PTI |
|
Football team may play in S. Africa Kolkata, April 8 The invitation has come from the London-based event management company Sapphire which has signed an agreement with the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) for annual exposure trips in different parts of the world. AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, however, told PTI that a final decision about the team’s proposed tour to South Africa would be taken in New Delhi on April 12. Apart from playing against Pakistan, the Indian team was scheduled to play a friendly match against South Africa XI and a local club. “These were the proposals of Sapphire. We have told them to spell out the dates of the matches, and only if it is convenient, the Indian team will participate,” he said. Mr Dasmunshi said that he had already clarified to the sponsors that playing against Pakistan was subject to government clearance. “We have applied for clearance for the South African trip, but it is for the government to decide whether we can play against Pakistan or not,” he said.
PTI |
|
Assault charge
against Tyson Phoenix (USA), April 8 Tyson’s lawyer said the former boxing champion was at the club early yesterday, but left before there was any confrontation. A brief police statement said there were “no visible injuries to either victim” and that Tyson had left the Hiliter Club by the time officers arrived shortly before 1 am. The alleged victims were identified as a 25-year-old dancer at the club and her 23-year-old boyfriend.
AP |
|
‘No misuse of school sports funds’ Chandigarh, April 8 Referring to the charge that equipment worth Rs 10000 for 750 schools was sanctioned without any formal approval as reported in a section of the press, Mr Chhabra clarified that in December last year, a committee with the Education Minister, Punjab, at the helm sanctioned, the same. The other members of the commitee were Secretary, School Education, DPI, Schools and Mr Chhabra himself. He said all purchases related to various types of equipment were made as per the approval of the state’s authorised body the Punjab Small Scale Industries and Export Corporation Limited (PSIEC). He said all monetary approvals for expenditure on the purchase of sports kit, brides budget for the Asian School Hockey in 2001 and the four nation schools cricket meet in January 2002 was approved by the commitee formed with the approval of the Education Minister, Punjab. When asked why a huge budget was kept for the Asian schools meet, Mr Chhabra said as per the policy of the Asian School Sport Federation (ASSF), the host country had to provide five-star like facilities to national players, which involved huge expenditure. He said as per the Punjab and Haryana High Court directions, 30 coaches of the Education Department were relieved on February 28 and they had been asked to join the Punjab Sports Department with immediate effect. When asked, if the shifting of these coaches would affect the school sports standards, Mr Chhbara said the Education Department already had an adequate number of DPEs and PTIs at present, employed in the schools of Punjab. A majority of them were technically qualified from the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. Mr Chhabra said those who were not qualified in a particular discipline would be asked to attend the certificate courses being conducted by the Sports Authority of India. |
|
SGFI to send teams
abroad Chandigarh, April 8 The SGFI will also celebrate its golden jubilee this year and four states had come forward to jointly host the event on a big scale. These states are Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Punjab. He said competitions in more than 30 disciplines would be organised in various age groups for boys and girls in these four states only. Rifle shooting and netball will also be included this year’s calendar for the National School Games, he added. |
|
|
SZ looking to finish second Jaipur, April 8 With 14 points till now, South Zone can still aim for the second spot but Central Zone, who have lost their last three matches, are yet to open their account. South Zone are going into the match with two changes, replacing an injured Hemang Badani with Arjun Yadav while seamer Avinash Aware comes in for M R Srinivas. “Hemang Badani is out because he has hurt his back. We will miss him because he was in good form in the last match and was mainstay of the team with his spirit and never-say-die attitude,” South skipper M S K Prasad told PTI at the team’s net practice today. The skipper, a former India wicketkeeper trying to make a comeback to the national squad, said he was fully fit after undergoing an operation for dislocation of back muscle last year.
PTI |
|
|
PGA Cup Golf
from May 3 Chandigarh, April 8 The competition will be held in two categories — amateurs and juniors (for men and women). The junior category will be in the 15 to 17 age category. In the amateur category the men golfers having a handicap of 10 and women with a handicap of 18 can participate. In the junior category the boys should have a handicap of 16 and girls a handicap of 20. The last date for entries is April 25. Entry forms will be available at all golf clubs in Punjab and Chandigarh. Entries can be submitted at the reception counter of the Chandigarh Golf Club or to Col B.S. Kahlon (Retd), general secretary, Punjab Golf Association, SCO 28 (second floor), Sector 33-D, Chandigarh. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Kolkata, April 8
