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Sunday,
May 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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‘No extra security for Indians’ We need to
increase depth: NZ coach |
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Voller optimistic about Germany’s chances Agony for Romario as Scolari prepares list Blatter accused
of corruption Scolari hounded by Romario fans Beckham likely to recover in time FIFA rejects
Arab calls Punjab cops, HSIDC spikers lose HS Kang, Guneet
gross winners Hoshiarpur cops win title Decision to remove sportspersons flayed
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Spirited reply by India
Bridgetown, May 4 India were 85 for one at the tea break with Wasim Jaffer back in the pavilion after playing an impressive knock of 51, his first Test half-century. Shiv Sunder Das was batting on 27 while Rahul Dravid was on one at the break. After a watchful first few overs, the Indian openers shifted gears and played positively with Jaffer looking particularly attractive. Making a comeback into the Indian squad and having failed in the first innings, Jaffer showed a lot of confidence in a crunch situation and played beautiful strokes on the off-side. He hit ten boundaries, nine of them coming between covers and backward point region, to race to his fifty off only 67 balls. But he was out in an unfortunate manner, being found short of his crease by a brilliant pick and direct hit by Shivnarine Chanderpaul while attempting a quick single. The first wicket fell at 80, a marked improvement from the earlier innings in the series so far when the opening partnership had fetched scores of 6, 18, 6 and 0. Earlier, Carl Hooper and Chanderpaul hit their second centuries of the series as West Indies posted 394 in their first innings. The two batsmen added 215 for the fifth wicket, their second double-century stand of the series, but the last six wickets fell for only 18 runs. Put on the mat for most of the morning session, India suddenly claimed wickets in hordes to bowl out West Indies for 394 in their first innings on the third day of the third cricket Test, but not before conceding a huge 292-run lead. Indians might consider themselves lucky with the sudden collapse of the West Indian innings, the last six wickets falling for just 18 runs, after centuries by Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had heaped miseries on them. Hooper and Chanderpaul put on 215 for the fifth wicket to put West Indies in a commanding position after they resumed at the overnight score of 314 for four. Once Hooper was dismissed by Harbhajan Singh for a strokeful 115, the rest of the batsmen caved in and were back in pavilion in no time, just before lunch. Chanderpaul remained unbeaten on 101, his second century of the series as also for his captain. For the Indians it was a mixed morning session - after toiling for about a couple of hours, things finally started happening when Hooper, who dazzled in his 235-ball knock studded with 18 fours, went for an ambitious shot only to see Sachin Tendulkar take a well-judged catch at mid-on. But by then the hosts had already ensured a formidable first innings lead and the Indians, 1-0 up in the five-match series, will require a lot of grit and determination if they are to save this match. In their second knock, India were seven without loss with openers Shiv Sunder Das batting on three and Wasim Jaffer on four. India, who were all out for 102 from 33 overs on the first day, now face a big deficit with more than two and a half days remaining. The Indians kept things tight in the first 40 minutes of the day’s play when only 16 runs came from nine overs before Hooper imperiously drove Zaheer Khan past extra cover. Hooper, who impressed immensely with a double-ton effort in the first Test, smashed three off-side fours in an Ashish Nehra over to race to his 12th Test century, having batted for 318 minutes and faced 210 balls with 15 fours. Scoreboard India (first innings) 102 all out (Mervyn Dillon 4-41, Adam Sanford 3-20) West Indies (first innings) overnight 314 for four) Williams c Jaffer b Khan 18 Gayle lbw b Khan 14 Sarwan c Jaffer b Nehra 60 Lara c and b Nehra 55 Hooper c Tendulkar b Singh 115 Chanderpaul not out 101 Jacobs c Ratra b Nehra 0 Dillon c Das b Nehra 6 Collins b Singh 0 Sanford lbw b Singh 0 Cuffy run out 1 Extras: (b-3 lb-8, nb-13) 24 Total (all out): 394 Fall of wickets: 1-30 2-35 3-154 4-161 5-376 6-376 7-392, 8-393 9-393 Bowling: Srinath 32-7-85-0 (nb-3), Nehra 32-9-112-4, Khan 29-8-83-2 (nb-6), Ganguly 7-5-9-0, Singh 34.5-7-87-3, Tendulkar 1-0-7-0 (nb-4). India (2nd innings): Das batting 27 Jaffer run out 51 Dravid batting 1 Extras (lb-2, nb-4) 6 Total (for 1 wkt, 29 overs): 85 Fall of wicket: 1-80. Bowling: Dillon 9-3-24-0, Cuffy 8-6-2-0, Collins 6-0-35-0, Sanford 5-1-20-0, Hooper 1-0-2-0. PTI
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‘No extra security for Indians’
Mumbai, May 4 However, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah insisted here today that it should be ECB’s responsibility. The two Indian observers have gone there only to convince the ECB of the danger to the Indian team which will be on tour from June end, he said. ECB director of corporate affairs John Read told journalists in London that ECB had provided security to its players in India last winter at its own cost and the BCCI was welcome to do the same. Anyway, Read felt that English cricketers faced greater threat after the September 11 terrorist attack in America than the Indians who might face from Pakistani immigrants as Shah had mentioned. But, Shah was equally emphatic and pointed out at two past instances — junior India beating Pakistan in world cup finals and India defeating Pakistan in 1999 world cup — when Pakistani fans had invaded the field. Shah also ruled out sending security officers with Indian team and said that the Indian government had provided adequate security to the British here. Read was of the view that the BCCI might contact international security officer Bob Smalley but the latter will be strictly on the look-out for match-fixing and nothing else. Read, however, did mention that the ECB has already started a “keep off the pitch” campaign which also entails 1,000 pounds (Rs 70,000) fine for any violators. Meanwhile, Shah’s fear of the Pakistani threat to Sachin Tendulkar and captain Saurav Ganguly has provoked Muslim settlers in England and the media is flooded with indignant letters.
UNI |
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We need to increase
depth: NZ coach Lahore, May 4 “What New Zealand cricket needs is to keep trying to increase the depth for better results in the future because we are a small country and have limited resources,” Aberhart said. New Zealand crashed to an innings and 324 runs defeat in the first Test against Pakistan which ended yesterday, the worst in their Test history. “The defeat was really disappointing after we had finished our series against Australia last year and in the home series against England but ours is a young side and we are in the process of increasing the depth,” said 49-year-old Aberhart, a former school principal who took over as coach in September last year. Aberhart could have been better off had New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan, originally planned for September-October last year, not been postponed after the September 11 terror attacks on the USA. The delayed tour saw New Zealand missing ace all-rounders Chris Cairns and Dion Nash and fast-rising paceman Shane Bond due to injury problems. The tourists also lost opener Nathan Astle after the first one-day match in the Pakistan tour, when he injured a ligament in his knee and returned home. “Injury to key players was a blow. but we were outplayed in the one-day series and in the Lahore Test by a better side,” Aberhart admitted. He said he would try his best to regroup his side for the final Test in Karachi starting on May 8.
AFP |
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Voller optimistic about Germany’s chances
Berlin, May 4 For so long the most consistently successful European team at the World Cup — between 1982 and 1990 they reached the final three times, winning the title once — recent years have been a lean spell for the Germans. Rock-bottom came in the shape of a 1-5 home defeat against England in Munich last September, a result which effectively forced Rudi Voller’s team into a play-off to secure their ticket to Japan and South Korea. Yet despite the cataclysmic blow to morale inflicted by the loss against England, former international striker Voller is optimistic about Germany’s chances as they prepare for the finals. A convincing 5-2 win over Ukraine in the play-offs and the impressive form of the Bundesliga’s clubs in Europe this season both suggest the worst might be over for Germany. One thing is certain: Voller will be leading a unified and motivated squad into Group E battle against the Republic of Ireland, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia. A far cry from the dysfunctional side embarrassed at Euro 2000. The question is though which Germany will turn up when they open their campaign against Saudi Arabia in Sapporo — the one that caved in to England or the one that saw off Ukraine. For 41-year-old Voller it is a matter of praying his first-choice squad remains fit. The lack of youth coming through and a shallow pool of reserves leave him with little room for manoeuvre. “We do lack strength in depth but I believe if we can take all the 23 players I consider to be the best in Germany then we will be a match for anyone as we showed against Ukraine, who are not exactly lightweights in European football,” he said. However, those plans have already come unstuck with, injuries depriving Voller of key figures in midfield and defence. Bayern Munich’s playmaker Mehmet Scholl ruled himself out because of persistent injuries and there are serious doubts about Sebastian Deisler making the trip after a knee operation. “With Mehmet not going I can only hope Deisler makes it because the onus of our creativity will fall on Michael Ballack,” Voller said, referring to the Bayer Leverkusen star who has finally come of age. While Ballack has been instrumental in Leverkusen’s superb march to the European Champions League final, it may be asking a lot of the 26-year-old to shoulder all the creative
responsibilities. “I shudder to think what could happen to Germany if Michael is injured... because with him would go a vital source of goals (he top-scored for Germany with six in the qualifiers) and the vision in the side,” club manager Klaus Toppmoller opined. Without Ballack, Deisler and Scholl the Germans would likely fall back on their traditional strengths of tough-tackling, no-frills midfield play. Ballack’s club-mate Carsten Ramelow, Liverpool’s Dietmer Hamann, who was one of the few to shine in the 1998 finals, and the injury-prone Jens Jeremies should all vie for places. Given the defensive frailties exposed by England, that would be a boost for goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. Even so, Germany face a rethink after influential centre-half Jens Nowotny was ruled out after suffering a serious knee injury. “Jens played a very important role in my plans, as both the chief of my defence and as my right-hand man on the pitch. It will be hard to replace him,” a worried Voller said. Up front Germany also have a generally goal-shy attack. Former captain Oliver Bierhoff is a shadow of the marksman he once was and while Leverkusen’s Oliver Neuville has been outstanding for his club, just two goals in 29 internationals suggests he is still adapting to the highest stage. The other two possibilities, Ghana-born Gerald Asamoah and Miroslav Klose are untried at a major finals — and Asamoah is struggling to shake off a thigh injury. Nevertheless Germany’s pedigree and Voller’s success at restoring morale and team unity should still make them favourites to progress from the group. How far they will go is another matter. Franz Beckenabuer sees little chance of Voller pulling off a miracle by landing the trophy for the fourth time. “What can we hope for after a 4-1 win against the Ukraine?” asked Beckenabuer. “Not the title. France and Argentina are clearly ahead of us.”
AFP |
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Agony for Romario as Scolari prepares list
Rio De Janeiro, May 4 Romario, who remains one of the world’s most deadly penalty-area specialists at the age of 36, has mysteriously been ignored by Scolari since captaining the team last July in a 1-0 defeat by Uruguay. But the former Barcelona player says he will not give up hope of going to his third and final World Cup until the man known as Big Phil reads out his list of 23 players at 1400 local time (2230 hrs IST) on Monday. “This is one of the most anxious moments of my entire career,” Romario told reporters. “The fact that I’m not a certainty in the list, which is new for me, is getting to me. But I’m at peace with myself because I know that even if I’m not picked, I know I have done my best.” Romario has failed to impress Scolari despite averaging over a goal-a-game in club football this year. Not even a tearful public outburst, in which Romario admitted that his dream was to go to South Korea and Japan, was enough to soften the heart of the man known as Big Phil. Scolari has repeatedly said that “tactical and technical reasons” have kept Romario out of the team. Media have interpreted this as Scolari’s way of saying that Romario just stands in the penalty area and waits for the ball to come to him. Meanwhile, Brazilians wonder whether a possible act of indiscipline in Montevideo or subsequent criticism in the media may be behind Scolari’s Romario snub. Romario’s hopes suffered a major setback two weeks ago when Vasco da Gama were knocked out of both competitions they had been taking part in. Then on Wednesday a glimmer of hope appeared when Scolari told a newspaper that he selected 22 players but still had to decide on one more. “Perhaps I’m the missing one,” Romario said. But it would still be a major surprise if Romario were to be suddenly included after so many rejections. More likely, Monday’s announcement will sound the death knell for his World Cup career. The other major doubts concern midfielders Djalminha and Rivaldo. Djalminha could pay a heavy price for this week’s incident in which he head-butted coach Javier Irureta during training at Deportivo Coruna. Scolari has said repeatedly that he wants to create a family atmosphere and may decide that the risk of Djaminha causing a family squabble is simply too high. Rivaldo’s recent injury problems could make him a liability although it is unlikely that Scolari will discard him yet. Scolari has another month to pick a replacement should Rivaldo’s troublesome knee still be playing up when the tournament gets under way. Whether Rivaldo — frequently accused of saving his best for Barcelona — can produce his top form at international level is a different matter.
Reuters |
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Blatter accused
of corruption
Zurich, May 4 In the most explosive document ever delivered to a FIFA ruling executive committee,
Zen-Ruffinen outlined allegations of a trail of deception, mismanagement, illegal payments and cronyism against the 66-year-old
Blatter. And he warned that the FIFA president had one week to reply to the charges or he would hand the dossier to the Swiss authorities. The 21-page dossier comes only four weeks before a FIFA congress in Seoul which will decide whether to re-elect Blatter for another four years or give football’s most powerful post to his sole challenger, Issa
Hayatou, a FIFA vice-president and president of the African Football Confederation (CAF). In the report stamped ‘strictly confidential’ but obtained by the AFP,
Zen-Ruffinen revealed a secret presidential group within football’s governing world body that is
answera- ble only to Blatter, in contravention to the FIFA statutes. The most damning indictment against Blatter came at the end of the file where
Zen-Ruffinen delivered two accusations, one which he said constituted a criminal act under the Swiss Penal Code and the second which may constitute a criminal offence. The first allegation claimed that Blatter paid a European executive committee member, who was elected in 2000 two years backdated remuneration to 1998 of $100,000. The second charge was over a payment to former Niger referee Lucien Bouchardeau for giving evidence against CAF vice-president Farah
Addo. AFP |
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Scolari hounded by Romario fans Rio De Janeiro, May 4 Scolari was at the CBF’s base to discuss the final squad for the May 31 to June 30 event in Korea and Japan which is to be announced on Monday. “Ay, Ay, Ay, Romario has been picked!” they screamed in frustration at Scolari, who has continually hinted the last few weeks that Romario, Brazil’s 1994 World Cup winning striker, will not be included in his final 23. Scolari was pushed and shoved by fans on is way to his car where the most enthusiastic protesters continued to demand Romario’s inclusion. The press adviser of Romario, at Vasco da Gama’s Sao Januario stadium, said he was glad at the positive support.
AFP |
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Beckham likely to recover in time London, May 4 Manchester United said yesterday that X-rays of Beckham’s broken metatarsal bone show “there are signs that his bone is healing satisfactorily.” Football Association spokesman Paul Newman said England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was optimistic about Beckham’s progress. “This is obviously very encouraging news,” Newman said. “We hope that David’s recovery continues at this pace in advance of the World Cup finals.” England’s opening World Cup game is on June 2 against Sweden. Eriksson names his squad on May 9 and has said he will pick Beckham. The talented midfielder was injured April 10 in a Champions Cup quarterfinal game against Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna.
AP |
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FIFA rejects
Arab calls Zurich, May 4 FIFA President Sepp Blatter told reporters the organisation had received requests to suspend Israel from eight Arab soccer federations, but that its ruling executive committee would not agree. “The FIFA executive committee stayed very strong,” he said. “We’re not a political organisation, we do not intervene in any of these cases.” Last month, Walid Kurdy, the deputy secretary-general of the Arab Football Federation, said Israel should be suspended from sports, citing “racist policies” against Palestinians. “There is a courageous precedent to that when South Africa was suspended for its racist policies under that country’s apartheid regime,” he said.
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Punjab cops, HSIDC spikers lose Tirupur, May 4 National players of both teams exhibited their skills, but SR edged PP out of competition in the fifth set winning 25-20, 18-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-15. After losing the first set by 25-20, with crowd backing, PP got into act quickly and rammed home half a dozen smashes, which found enough space at the SR back court to win the second set by 18-25. With the help of good blocks of SR men Sivarajan, Sunil and good serves of Kapil and Suresh, they defeated PP by 15-11 in the fifth set to enter the super league round. The game lasted 80 minutes. In another women group ‘A’ match, SR beat Kolkata club in straight three sets 25-10, 25-12, 25-17 within 50 minutes. Though Siman Oran, Soma Saha and captain Piyali Roy showed some resistance in the initial stages, they could not withstand the pressure from national players Geetha Raju, Salomi Ramu and Sunitha and finally lost the match. In the last game, men ‘A’ group, though Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Chennai and Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) already entered the super league stages, it was a tough tussle to capture the top-level in the table. The star-studded IOB showed their merit and did not gave any chance to the opponent and beat HSIDC 25-19, 31-29, 25-14. There was some resistance from HSIDC men Raghvir Singh and Amir Singh being senior Indian players in the second set. They played some good shots for HSIDC but, IOB proved too much to handle with the help of P. Sundaram, Sivabalan and Rajesh. The super league matches would be between IOB vs SR, Kochin Refineries vs HSIDC for men and in the women’s section, it would be between Kerala State Electricity Board vs Bangalore club, SR vs South Central Railway. All the four matches would be held tonight.
UNI |
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HS Kang, Guneet gross
winners Chandigarh, May 4 In the junior girls section, Kanika Minocha with a score of 194 emerged as the gross winner. The longest drive was recorded by Tarun Lehal while Jagbir Grewal of Ranjitgarh Golf Club was nearest to the pin. The
results: Men: Gross winner: H.S. Kang (71+75=146) (Chandigarh Golf Club); Ist runner up: Sandy Lehal (147) (Chandigarh Golf Club); 2nd runner up: Gurbaaz Mann (147) (Chandigarh Golf Club); Nett winner: Kuldeep Singh (Chandigarh Golf Club);Runner up: Jassanjit Dullet (Black Elephant Golf Club); Women: Gross winner: Guneet Raikhy (81+78=159) (Chandigarh Golf Club); Ist runner up Manrit Kochhar (Chandigarh Golf Club); 2nd runner up Dimple Minocha (Chandigarh Golf Club); Nett winner: Binny Bath (Chandigarh Golf Club); Runner up Sheena Sekhon (Chandigarh Golf Club); Juniors boys: Gross winner Nitin Mittal (76+75=151) (Chandigarh Golf Club); Ist runner up: Sagar Bhatia (Chandigarh Golf Club); 2nd runner up Karan Singh (Chandigarh Golf Club); Nett winner Dinesh Kumar (Chandigarh Golf Club); Runner-up Gaganjit Bhullar (Rail Coach Factory); Juniors girls: Gross winner Kanika Minocha (194) (Chandigarh Golf Club); Longest drive Tarun Lehal (272 yards) (Chandigarh Golf Club); Nearest to pin: Jagbir Grewal (5’-3”) (Ranjitgarh Golf Club).
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Hoshiarpur cops win title Dharamsala, May 4 It was a keenly played match , with Baldeep of the Hoshiarpur Police scoring the winning goal in the 85th minute. Earlier in the 37th minute, Rajinder Singh of Hoshiarpur Police gave the lead to his team by scoring the first goal. It was in the 58th minute that ONGC managed to equalise when S. Pal struck a goal. The Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, Prof Samdhong
Rinpoche, who was the chief guest, gave away the cup and trophies to the participating teams. A total of 14 teams, including
ONGC, Hoshiarpur Police, Jalandhar Police, HP Police, Tibetan XI, Football Club Rewari and Punjab Sporting Club competed in the tournament held every year in memory of freedom fighters Durga Mal and Dal Bahadur.
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Decision to remove
sportspersons flayed Patiala, May 4 In a press release, Mr K.S. Dhillon, president of the federation, said the sudden decision to terminate the services of sportspersons was very harsh as they had spent the prime of their careers playing for the Board and now they would find it difficult to have a decent livelihood. Mr Dhillon said while on the one hand, the cash-starved PSEB was taking various austerity measures to avoid further losses, on the other hand it was in the process of appointing a former hockey Olympian under political compulsions as Director (Sports). |
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Paes-Bhupathi in final New Delhi, May 4 The pair, who split for the second time in their careers in March but
reunited for this tournament, had a rather easy semi-final outing as they inflicted a 6-4, 6-2 defeat on their rivals, according to information received here.
PTI |
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National School Games put
off Chandigarh, May 4 The disciplines postponed are, hockey (under 14, 19 for boys and girls at Rewa from May 12 to 16; tennikoit, ball badminton (under 19) for boys and girls, mallakhamb (under 19) for boys at Sehore from May 14 to 17 and karate, throwball under 19 boys and girls at Hoshangabad scheduled from May 16 to 19. |
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