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Wednesday,
July 10, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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India succumb to Irani’s dream spell Favourites
India not complacent MISBEHAVIOUR
WITH SRINATH Aussies,
Kiwis ready to play in Nairobi India to
play 7 ODIs in New Zealand UAE,
Hong Kong set to show superiority |
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Corretja
triumphs Tania
aims to get WGM in two years Indian
juniors defeat Iran Judoka
Kamla Rawat excels Lewis
about to retire? India
in group C in Asiad soccer Seaman
wants to carry on ‘Recruit’
more players in Haryana Police
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India succumb to Irani’s dream spell
London, July 9 It was a great fall for a side that came into the match with convincing victories in three of their four earlier matches - the other, against England, being abandoned due to rain. Not only were India bowled out inside their quota of 32 overs, they also became the first side in the tournament to concede a bonus point to the opposition. The hero of the match was Ronnie Irani who came up with career-best batting and bowling performances to bag the man of the match award’. After top-scoring with 53, his first one-day half-century, to power England to 229, Irani bowled a dream spell of seven overs, claiming five wickets for 26 runs, to restrict India to 165 in 29.1 overs. His victims included India’s top-scorer Virender Sehwag, who made a 41-ball 46 with eight fours and a six, and Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif. This was the first defeat for India in the tournament. The victory is a big psychological boost for England as the two sides are to meet again in the final on Saturday. India have another league encounter left, against Sri Lanka on Thursday. Earlier, an erratic performance by the Indian bowlers saw England pile up a challenging 229 for eight in the rain-truncated 32-overs a side league match. The Indians conceded as many as 30 extras, including 18 wides, to supplement the brilliant knocks of Andrew Flintoff and Ronnie Irani who powered the England innings. Flintoff and Irani struck half-centuries and put on 76 for the third wicket after England had been put in to bat by Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly in a match that was delayed by more than four hours due to rain. England were off to a flying start with Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick putting on 52 runs before Anil Kumble struck with the first ball of his spell. An off-colour Trescothick, who made just nine runs from 24 balls, was clean bowled by Kumble with a yorker. Knight, who hit a 38-ball 31 with four boundaries, was then dismissed by a stunning catch by Mohammad Kaif off Yuvraj Singh and England were forced on the backfoot. But Irani, who was promoted to bat at number three, and Flintoff played excellent knocks to put England on road to a good total. Irani hit his first one-day half-century, making 53 off 55 balls with two fours and a six while Flintoff compiled his second fifty of this tournament, a 38-ball 51 which included six hits to the fence. The partnership was broken by Ajit Agarkar when Flintoff miscued an attempted big hit and holed out to Ashish Nehra in the deep.
Scoreboard England: Trescothick b Kumble 9 Knight c Kaif b Yuvraj 31 Irani b Kumble 53 Flintoff c Nehra b Agarkar 51 Vaughan c Yuvraj b Zaheer 30 Hussain c Kaif b Zaheer 6 Collingwood b Nehra 9 Stewart b Zaheer 0 Tudor not out 3 Gough not out 7 Extras (lb-6, w-18, nb-6) 30 Total (for 8 wkts, 32 overs) 229 Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-72, 3-148, 4-196, 5-202, 6-219, 7-219, 8-219. Bowling: Nehra 5-0-28-1, Zaheer Khan 7-0-53-3, Kumble 7-0-39-2, Agarkar 4-0-38-1, Yuvraj Singh 6-0-37-1, Sehwag 1-0-9-0, Ganguly 1-0-10-0, Tendulkar 1-0-9-0. India Sehwag c Stewart b Irani 46 Ganguly c Flintoff b Tudor 6 Laxman c Hoggard b Collingwood 14 Tendulkar c Stewart b Hoggard 36 Yuvraj st Stewart b Irani 5 Kaif b Irani 1 Ratra c Stewart b Irani 2 Agarkar c Collingwood b Irani 0 Kumble not out 21 Khan c Gough b Flintoff 2 Nehra c Irani b Tudor 24 Extras: (lb-1 w-7) 8 Total: (all out, 29.1 overs) 165 Fall of wickets: 1-31 2-62 3-78 4-100 5-114 6-118 7-118 8-120 9-127. Bowling: Gough 4-0-19-0, Tudor 4.1-0-30-2, Flintoff 4-0-33-1, Irani 7-1-26-5, Collingwood 5-0-31-1, Hoggard 5-0-25-1.
PTI  |
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Favourites India not complacent Kolkata, July 9 The hosts, with a FIFA ranking of 123, are miles ahead of the tiny Himalayan Kingdom, which has recently climbed up to the 199th spot after trouncing Montserrat 4-0 last month in a match between the two weakest soccer sides of the world. But India’s Uzbek chief coach Islam Akhmedov sounded a note of caution ahead of the flood-lit encounter at the giant Salt lake stadium. "In international engagements, you cannot afford to take any team lightly. One should remember that they have a Dutch coach, Arie Schans," he said. The India-Bhutan outing would be the second match on the morrow, with Tajikistan and Kyrghyzstan clashing in the tournament lung-opener earlier in the day. However, Schans, who arrived in Bhutan on June 6 to prepare the national squad for the Montserrat match, had no hesitation in admitting that his side ‘virtually stood no chance’ against India, who have the home advantage. "They are physically strong. Moreover, their players have been picked up from different parts of the vast Indian nation while my charges have been culled from some of the schools of Bhutan’s capital Thimpu," he said. The Indians, who have been practising here for the last one month, are likely to play in a 4-5-1 format, with Syed Rahim Nabi starting as the sole striker. Ashim Biswas and the fleet-footed James Singh would don the role of withdrawal forwards along with two genuine wingers in the form of Malswan Tulanga and Subhas Chakraborty. Akhemedov said he visualised a central midfield role for Bungo Singh, but was not sure of his fitness level. The Uzbek also felt the Indians would have been better equipped for the tournament had they got some good match practice. "One major drawback is that my top players like Bungo had to sit out almost the whole of the last season on the benches of bigger teams," he said. On the other hand, youngest FIFA member Bhutan would play in the traditional 4-4-2 format. "They have been playing in this system when I arrived there last month (June 6). I didn’t want to change the system abruptly," Schans said. Only three players of the team have international exposure of sorts, having turned out against Montserrat. While number one custodian Pushpalal Sharma took the ground for the last 10 minutes, defender Passang Tshering and medio Pema played the full 90 minutes. The last two, incidentally, occupy a crucial place in Schans’s scheme of things. Having come from the Netherlands, a side known for an attacking brand of soccer, Schans seemingly had no liking for the defensive approach, but was candid enough to concede that his inexperienced side might end up defending for most part of the encounter.
PTI |
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MISBEHAVIOUR
WITH SRINATH Bangalore, July 9 Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said during question hour that there had been a lot of complaints over the “reckless behaviour” of the official involved in the incident and the government had viewed it “seriously”. Kharge, responding to the question raised by A. Ramdas (BJP), said he had today received a report from the Mysore Police Commissioner R Chandrashekhar on the incident. He said the official involved, who has been in service for the last 20 years, had not been given any promotion following “adverse remarks” about his behaviour.
PTI |
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Aussies, Kiwis ready to play in Nairobi
Islamabad, July 9 Confirming this, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director Munawwar Rana disclosed: “Basically I had discussions with the Australian and New Zealand board officials and they have, in principle, agreed to the shifting of the triangular series to Nairobi.’’ “But we have to yet sign a formal agreement with both the boards for the event and also with the Kenyan Cricket Association (KCA), which should be soon,’’ Rana, who returned yesterday from abroad after attending the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asia Cricket Council (ACC) moots in London, added. “For the PCB, it is a case of having to make the most out of a tight situation. Ideally we would have liked to play the triangular series in Pakistan as it was supposed to be the showpiece event of our Test cricket Golden Jubilee year,’’ The News, quoting Rana, said today. He said essentially the itinerary for the event should remain the same except for minor modifications but pointed out that details of how the series would be hosted remained to be finalised with Kenyan cricket authorities. The PCB director said: “When I spoke to the Kenyan authorities, they were keen to host our series. Essentially it would be considered a home series, but obviously we will have to take care of all expenses involved in organisation of the matches.’’ He maintained that Kenya had been chosen as the venue for the triangular on the recommendation of the PCB broadcasting agents, Trans World International (TWI). Rana stated, “We had intense discussions in London and they basically choose the venue keeping in mind the time zone difference with Australia and New Zealand as broadcasters there are the main buyers for this series.’’ Initially the PCB had announced a tentative schedule of August 25 to September 7 for the triangular series involving double league matches between the three nations. But sources said that slight modifications could be made on the insistence of the Australian and New Zealand cricket boards. In all probability, the Pakistan team will now fly straight to Kenya after playing another three-nation tournament in Tangier, Morocco, from August 12 to 21. Rana said that issues like receipt of gate money, title sponsor and advertising revenues for the tournament in Nairobi still had to be worked out with the KCA. “However, one thing is obvious that our profits or revenues would be definitely reduced having to play our home tournament at a neutral venue. But in given circumstances we can only go with the majority opinion of the ICC members,” he added. Rana said the venue for the Test series against Australia, which follows in October, was yet to be decided although Pakistan was still trying to convince the Australians to at least play the Tests in Pakistan. He pointed out: “But again TWI has recommended Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as the neutral venues in case we have no other options.’’ The PCB has claimed that it has lost $ 25 million in revenues because of cancelled and modified tours since January 2000 with the involved teams including India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies and now Australia. Asked to describe his feelings about the outcome of the ICC meetings in London from a Pakistani perspective, Rana explained that one could not separate cricket from the overall scenario prevailing in Pakistan as far as the international community was concerned.
UNI |
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India to play 7 ODIs in New Zealand
Wellington, July 9 “Given the time frame we are working within and the desire of both teams to gain some valuable World Cup preparation by playing an extended one-day series, we have decided to allow for this by scheduling the two Test matches before Christmas,” Snedden said. India will play its first tour match on December 4 and the first Test will start on December 12 at Wellington. Tour Schedule: Dec 12 to 16 - 1st Test at Wellington Dec 19 to 23 - 2nd Test at Hamilton Dec 26 - 1st ODI at Auckland Dec 29 - 2nd ODI at Napier Jan 1 - 3rd ODI at Christchurch Jan 4 - 4th ODI at Queenstown Jan 8 - 5th ODI at Wellington Jan 11 - 6th ODI at Auckland Jan 14 - 7th ODI at Hamilton.
AP |
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UAE, Hong Kong set to show superiority
Singapore, July 9 “UAE beat us in the final last time, and we mean to change that,” Hong Kong coach Lal Jayasinghe said today. “We haven’t come here to lose.” UAE won on their home pitch in Sharjah two years ago, beating Hong Kong by 10 wickets in the final and “it’s hard to see past them this time. It looks like it will be Hong Kong and UAE,” Singapore cricket spokesman Anil Kalaver said. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournament is the testing ground for the non-Test nations in Asia and the Middle East, with the bonus of serving as the qualifier for the Asia Cup which involves regional big guns India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The 10-nation tournament, which this year heralds the arrival of Oman and Qatar on the international stage, runs from July 10 to 21. Making the final offers more than an opportunity to play for the title of Asia’s best non-Test nation - also at stake is a potential $10,000 as the participation fee for playing in the Asia Cup. UAE and Hong Kong, however, are still waiting for their payday after the 2000 final as the scheduled 2001 Asia Cup has been repeatedly deferred due to political tension between India and Pakistan. They are confirmed for the Asia Cup when it is next held, with the finalists of this year’s ACC Trophy competing in the following tournament. UAE and Hong Kong have earned their front-runner status with the presence of expatriate players bringing additional experience to the sides. “That’s one of the reasons why they’re so strong. They have one or two expatriates and Pakistanis in the UAE side, and Hong Kong’s in a similar situation,” Kalaver said. “Under an ICC (International Cricket Council) ruling experts in Hong Kong automatically qualify to play for the side, but that doesn’t happen here. It’s the way ICC rulings go.” With UAE in group A are Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Nepal, while in group B are Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Maldives. The top two teams from each group will go through to the semi-finals on July 19 with the final to be played on July 21. UAE open the tournament tomorrow against debutant Oman, one of the strongest sides in the Gulf but where the spartan facilities include cement pitches, and grassless, stone covered outfields. Hong Kong’s first match is against hosts Singapore. “This is a major event for us,” said Singapore Cricket Association president Chris Pianca. “At the end we will be able to measure ourselves against the national sides of Asia.” The ACC has launched a multi-million dollar plan to strengthen the sport in the region, involving a central academy in Nepal with regional academies in Malaysia and UAE. UAE, Hong Kong, Nepal, Singapore and Malaysia have been earmarked as “fast track” countries with a view to preparing them for one-day international status.
AFP |
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Corretja triumphs
Gstaad (Switzerland), July 9 It marked the eighth time Corretja and Meligeni met throughout their careers, with the Spaniard winning six times, including the last three matches on clay. In other opening-round action, fifth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina was toppled 7-6 (7/3) 3-6 6-4 by Croatian qualifier Ivan Ljubicic. Despite his higher ranking, Chela has never managed to defeat the Croatian, who has won all three of their head-to-heads. Previously, Ljubicic defeated the Argentine in four sets in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup this year, and in straight sets in Bastad in 2000. In other play, Michail Juschni of Russia downed home favourite Michel Kratochvil 6-2 6-4, while 1997 champion Felix Mantilla of Spain beat Romanian Adrian Voinea 6-3 6-4. Another Spaniard, David Sanchez, trounced Frenchman Anthony Dupuis 6-2 6-1, and Slovakia’s Karol Kucera eliminated Swiss player Ivo Heuberger 4-6 6-2 7-5. Surprise Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian of Argentina will get right back to work today following his stunning performance last week, taking on fourth-seeded Andrei Pavel of Romania in further opening-round play. The 20-year-old Argentine, who broke a series of records on his way to the Wimbledon final, is unseeded in this week’s event.
AP |
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Tania aims to get WGM in two years
New Delhi, July 9 “My ultimate aim is to become the number one women’s chess player in the world...but at present I am concentrating to earn the WGM norm...two years time is good enough for me,” the ravishing five-foot-seven Tania, who won the tournament in Colombo on Friday, told UNI here on the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony yesterday. For Tania, considered by many as one of the best-looking sportswomen in the country, limelight and success came at a very early age. The youngest girl to win an international event at the age of eight, Tania had created history by winning five titles at the British championship in Norwich in 1994 and earned the International Masters norm last year. She was the national champion in the under-12 category in 1997 and 1998 and the state champion (Delhi) in under-19 category in 1999. Tania, who would celebrate her 16th birthday on August 20, attaches importance to time and strives to reach the top as early as possible. “Contrary to the belief that chess has no age-limits, I think after an age your concentration and stamina starts declining,” she explained. Tania had rejected several ads and modelling offers and wants to devote her life to chess. “If there is anything else...it is studies which is very important for the overall growth of your personality,” she said. Now, Tania is in the XIth standard having scored over 70 per cent in the Xth boards exam. “Studies actually help me in concentration and have been beneficial for my game...they have opened up dimensions and added edge to my game,” she noted. Tania had won the FIDE rated open tournament in 1995 and Salem FIDE rated tournament (Women’s section) in 1997 and was the runners-up in both the normal and the rapid section of the national under-16 tournament in 1998. She had also annexed the R K FIDE Open, men’s B Nagpur under-18, NIIT Open All India Chess Championship in 2000, Ranade Open Pune under-18, men’s B Nagpur under-18 and R K FIDE open rated in 2001. Tania attributed her success at Colombo to Evgeny Vladimirov, the ex-trainer of the former world champion Gary Kasparov. “The training which I got from Vladimirov in the coaching camp in Calicut last month helped me achieve the victory in the tournament,” she added. Though Vladimrov, who was a long time second of Kasparov, gave her only group training at the centre, Tania learnt about how to handle the pressure and expectations during the key matches. On her brilliant performance at the tournament, she expressed happiness though with a note of caution. “I am extremely happy to win the tournament. It was like a dream come true...but I have still larger targets in mind,” she exulted. She would visit the Czech Republic next week to participate in the Czech Open. “I will play as many matches as possible this year and participate in more international tournaments to improve my ranking at the world level,” she added. She also expressed happiness about the change of attitude of the people, media and government towards chess as a sport. “Now, the government and the media are giving due recognition to the sport which had been discriminated against for many years,” she noted.
UNI |
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Indian juniors defeat Iran
Chennai, July 9 According to information received by Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) Secretary General K. Murugan today, India won 25-22, 17-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11. The tour was part of the VFI’s preparations to build a strong team for the coming international events, including the Asian Championships.
UNI |
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Judoka
Kamla Rawat excels New Delhi, July 9 Kamla Rawat beat judokas from Mauritius, Zambia and Reunion Island on way to the final. In the final bout, she outplayed Dolly Moothoo of Mauritius. Dolly has been selected by the Mauritius Government for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Manchester later this month. Dolly was a silver medallist at the Commonwealth Judo Championship held in Edinburgh in 1998. Brojeshori Devi of India annexed a bronze medal in the 57kg category. She won four bouts on way to the bronze medal. Anita Chanu of India was also in the running for a medal in the 52kg category, but due to a faulty action was disqualified. Landhoni Devi in the 63kg category could not participate in the bouts due to a knee injury. The outing was an exposure for the Indian judokas in preparation for the coming Commonwealth Games. A six-member team, consisting of four women judokas, one coach (Narender Singh) and a manager (K. Radhakrishnan) participated in the Mauritius meet. |
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Lewis about to retire? London, July 9 The WBC, the IBF and the IBO champion has ruled out a fight with WBO champion Vladimir Klitschko, saying it would be a waste of his time. Lewis (36) proved himself the best in the world and entered the ranks of the greats by destroying Mike Tyson in Memphis last month. “Vladimir Klitschko — he’s not tough enough,” said Lewis at Michael Watson’s testimonial here late Monday. “He’s not ready for me yet. It would be a waste of my time to go and fight him - I would knock him out.” Lewis is not ready to announce his retirement yet, but he told Sky Sports: “I’ve already done everything that I really wanted to do in the sport of boxing, so I’m going to keep them guessing for a little while longer.”
AFP |
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India in group C in Asiad soccer Busan, July 9 Bangladesh and Turkmenistan were the other two teams in group C when the draw was made here today for the tournament from September 27 to October 13: The draw: Men Group A: South Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman Group B: United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen, Thailand Group C: China, India, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan Group D: Japan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Jordan Group E: Iran, Qatar, Lebanon, Mongolia Group F: Kuwait, Tajikistan, Hong Kong, Pakistan Women: China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam.
AFP |
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Seaman wants to carry on
London, July 9 The England and Arsenal goalkeeper had considered retiring after blaming himself for England’s 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Brazil at the World Cup last month, with the 38-year-old leaving the Shizuoka pitch in tears. "I'm having talks with Arsenal. We're negotiating at the moment so that's step in the right direction," Seaman told SkysSports News yesterday. I'm enjoying my football still. What happened at the World Cup was a big setback but you've got to keep with it as a goalkeeper.
Reuters |
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Ronaldo
opens centre Rio De Janeiro: Soccer star Ronaldo and the physical therapist who helped him recover from the knee injuries opened a school of physiotherapy and a rehabilitation centre at a Rio de Janeiro university.
AP |
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‘Recruit’ more players in Haryana Police Chandigarh, July 9 While stating this here today, the President of HOA, Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, said that he had recently met the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and Chief Secretary, Mr L.M. Goyal and made a strong recommendation for recruiting as many as 400 sportspersons as Constables, Assistant Sub-Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors in Haryana Police on the basis of their qualifications and merits in sports. He said that the Chief Minister had lauded the concerted efforts made by the association for the promotion of sports in the state. He said that the Chief Minister had also assured that the State Government would not lag behind in extending full support in recruitment of sportspersons in government departments including Haryana Police, board and corporation to accelerate the pace of development of sports in the state. Mr Chautala said because of their good
physique the sportspersons were also being given special consideration in the recruitment in the Army and para-military forces. |
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Sasikiran lifts title
New Delhi, July 9 |
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Haryana
hockey from today Chandigarh, July 9 The championship would be inaugurated by Sports and Youth Welfare Commissioner and Secretary Naresh Gulati. Haryana Police Director General M.S. Malik, who is also the president of Haryana Hockey Association would be the chief guest on the closing ceremony, which would be presided over by Ambala Range Inspector General Alok Joshi, an official Press release said here today. |
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London, July 9
