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Sunday,
April 6, 2003, Chandigarh, India 
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Hunt restores parity for Kiwis
Ganguly urges Paes, Bhupathi to reunite Australia, Spain enter semis Russia’s title defence crumbling |
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Wright not to go with team Zimbabwe extract sweet revenge Elite B struggle in second innings on rain-hit day NCA to decide on
stadium construction Chamba rout Sirmour SAF Games may be moved to Lanka Punjab Police athletic meet results
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Hunt restores
parity for Kiwis
Kolkata, April 5 Hunt, who initially had problems with his first serve and the damp court, raised his game by several notches as the day progressed to beat Bopanna 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 9-7, after a 189-minute tussle. The young Indian player paid the price for his erratic display and tentative net game as the hosts surrendered the advantage of a 1-0 lead given by Leander Paes, who breezed past Mark Nielsen in straight sets in the opening outing yesterday. The proverb ‘morning shows the day’ did not hold true for once as the 22-year old Karnataka boy failed to keep up the momentum after a spectacular start and crashed to his third loss in four Davis Cup singles matches. Bopanna, who clinched the first two sets in identical fashion, breaking Hunt in crucial 10th games, seemed all at sea in negotiating the serves of the New Zealander in the subsequent sets. Hunt demolished Bopanna in the fifth and ninth games of the third set, and the sixth game of the fourth set to restore parity before proceeding to break his opponent in the 16th game of the decider to win the match. The organisers decided to postpone the doubles match to tomorrow to give sufficient rest to Hunt, slated to play the doubles, as per tournament rules. The match began 72 minutes late after referee Nao Kawate decided that the underfoot conditions, made slushy by yesterday’s rain, were not suitable to start the match on time and the two players, who were warming up, returned to the locker rooms. When the match resumed, Bopanna began on a song firing two aces in the opening game to finish it off without conceding a point. He served a total of 28 aces in the match, but offset the good work by
committing 20 double faults. Hunt, on the other hand, served 14 double faults in the first three sets, but made the blemish only twice in the last two sets. He hit a total of 12 aces. To begin with the New Zealander struggled with his serve in the fourth game of the first set, committing back-to-back double faults to trail 0-40 and gave three break-points to the lanky Indian. But Hunt recovered splendidly to win the next five points and held serve. His service blues continued in the sixth game when he again made two double faults, but managed to hold serve. Bopanna finally took the first set in 35 minutes when he put pressure on his service in the 10th game and broke his rival. Hunt hit a Bopanna volley out to lose the final point. The games went with serves in the second set, but Bopanna failed to take advantage of gaining two break points in the second game. He hit some good volleys and had little problem in holding serves, and drew applause from the moderate crowd at the South Club for a classical low backhand winner in the eighth game. But at 4-5, Hunt again saw his serve desert him in the crucial 10th game. He committed a double fault at deuce to give the advantage point to India, before Bopanna sealed the set with a forehand cross court. Bopanna stretched Hunt on the New Zealander’s serve in the second game, and gained a break point, but the foreigner salvaged the situation winning three points on the trot. Thereafter Hunt started showing more resolve, as he cut down on his errors and got his first break point in the fifth game and went on to win the next rally to go ahead 3-2. The two players retained serve in the next three games, but Bopanna started the ninth game with a double fault and trailed 15-40, giving two break and set points to Hunt. The New Zealander slammed a powerful forehand into Bopanna’s forehand corner, leaving the Indian stranded in the opposite court to take the set 6-3. Buoyed by the victory, Hunt lifted his serve even more in the fourth set, and conceded only one point in four service game to the Indian.
PTI
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Kiwis complain of wet ground New Zealand Davis Cup team, though happy to draw level against India, strongly resented the wet ground condition at the South Club following a heavy shower yesterday, while questioning the decision to begin the second singles today even before the grass court dried up. “I believe they should have waited for another hour to let the court dry up. But the referee made a decision to begin the match and so we had to play to respect his decision,” New Zealand captain Glenn Wilson told newspersons after the singles match between Alistair Hunt and Rohan Bopanna here. Indian captain Ramesh Krishnan, however, shrugged off the complain from his counterpart and said “we have a neutral referee. He and the ground staff inspected the court and certified it to be fit for play.” PTI
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Ganguly
urges Paes, Bhupathi to reunite Kolkata, April 5 “I would request the "Indian Express" to play together again. The whole country wants this. I hope they agree to this,” Ganguly said after spotting Bhupathi at an informal programme to felicitate him for the Indian team’s good show at the recent World Cup. The lethal Bhupathi-Paes combination had been nicknamed Indian Express after they became world’s number one doubles pair. But the duo split over personal differences for the second time last year. The entire Davis Cup team except Paes was present at Ganguly’s felicitation ceremony organised by Gujarat Ambuja.
PTI
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Australia, Spain enter semis
Malmo (Sweden), April 5 The win against Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Enqvist assured the visitors of an unbeatable 3-0 scoreline in the tie, with reverse singles to be contested. The Aussies, 27-time Davis Cup champions, have now won seven of nine ties over the Swedes. Earlier Albert Costa and Alex Corretja had given Spain an unassailable 3-0 lead in Valencia against Croatia, when they defeated Ivan Ljubicic and Lovro Zovko, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles. The Spaniards will meet the winner of the Argentina-Russia match in Buenos Aires, that the home side is leading 2-0. TOULOUSE: Switzerland nosed into a 2-1 lead against France in their quarterfinal when they won the doubles in four sets. Roger Federer and playing captain Marc Rosset outshone the French pair of Fabrice Santoro and Nicolas Escude 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. Escude was a surprise replacement for Michael Llorda — winner of the Australian open double with Santoro earlier this year — despite his low-key singles performance against Swiss No 1 Federer on Friday. The Swiss pairing won in three hours and 10 minutes, and given Federer’s current form must now look favourites to pip last year’s runners-up for a place in the semifinals. Reuters
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Russia’s title defence crumbling New York, April 5 Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian and unheralded Gaston Gaudio didn’t concede a set to Nikolay Davydenko and former French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, as the home side looked set to avenge a semifinal loss in Moscow last year. “Having two points gives us some breathing room,” Nalbandian said. In other World Group quarterfinals, Australia led Sweden 2-0, Spain were up 2-0 on Croatia, and France and Switzerland were tied 1-1.
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Wright not to go with team
Kolkata, April 5 When asked whether the board had decided on an alternative to Wright, Mr Dalmiya said “it is being worked out and an announcement will be made in a couple of days”. Wright’s father had been seriously ill for quite some time. Wright rushed to New Zealand immediately after the World Cup final on March 23. Though his contract with the Indian board was only till the World Cup, it was extended for two more months till May 24 in view of the Dhaka tourney involving South Africa and Bangladesh, apart from India. The Saurav Ganguly-led Indian team is scheduled to leave for Dhaka from here on April 9. Wright, who has been with the Indian team for more than two years, had been looking forward to the event despite the two-month ad-hoc arrangement. He had commented that he expected to have a longer stint with the Indian team as he had developed a good rapport with Saurav’s boys. A number of top players including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra have also expressed their inability to accompany the team to Dhaka and that is why selectors have included a number of new faces in the 15 member team announced last Wednesday.
PTI
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Zimbabwe extract sweet revenge Sharjah, April 5 Chasing a target of 226, Zimbabwe reached 230 for five with one over to spare after Marillier (100), who is having a tremendous run with the bat as an opener, added 130 runs for the third wicket with Grant Flower (59) to set the stage for the victory. This was Marillier’s first century in one-day cricket. His previous best was 59 scored against Pakistan on the opening match of the tournament on April 3, which Zimbabwe lost by 68 runs. Flower, who scored the 36th half century of his career, also completed 6000 one-day runs in his 201st match. Zimbabwe openers Marillier and Craig Wishart started the chase on a sedate note as they put on 56 runs for the first wicket in 15.3 overs before the later was snapped by Steve Tikolo of the bowling of leg-spinner Colins Obuya for a 45-ball 15. Next-man Gavin Rennie also did not last long as he offered a return catch to Obuya after making only seven. He faced 18 balls and added 12 runs for the second wicket with Marillier in 4.1 overs. Coming to bowl in the 45th over, Suji first accounted for Flower, who was caught by Kennedy Otieno, and then dismissed Marillier in his next over as Zimbabwe slipped from 198 for two to 199 for four. Thomas Odoyo added more drama to the contest when he scalped Andy Blignaut for two before skipper Heath Streak (14) and Sean Ervine (12) added 22 runs off just nine balls to take the side to victory. For Kenya, Colins Obuya was the most impressive bowler claiming two wickets for 31 runs. Tony Suji’s two wickets cost him 30 runs in just three overs. Earlier, electing to bat first Kenya posted 225 for six in 50 overs with opener David Obuya scoring his maiden half-century and Thomas Odoyo making 46. PTI Kenya: K.Obuya c Taibu b Streak 0 D.Obuya c Rennie b Price 57 Patel b Hondo 18 Tikolo c Marillier b Price 37 Odoyo c Marillier b Hondo 46 Odumbe c and b Rennie 17 Modi not out 27 Ongondo not out 10 Extras:
(lb-1 w-12) 13 Total: (6wkts, 50 overs) 225 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-55, 3-114, 4-131, 5-161 Bowling: Streak 10-3-28-1, Blignaut 4-0-27-0, Hondo 8-0-37-2, Price 10-0-36-2, G.Flower 3-0-20-0, Marillier 6-0-30-0, Ervine 4-0-26-0, Rennie 5-0-20-1. Zimbabwe: Wishart c Tikolo b C Obuya 15 Marillier c Patel b T Suji 100 Rennie c and b C Obuya 7 Flower c Otieno b A Suji 59 Ervine not out 12 Blignaut c Angara b Odoyo 2 Streak not out 14 Extras: (lb-8, w-11, nb-2) 21 Total: (5 wkts, 49 overs) 230 FoW: 1-56, 2-68, 3-198, 4-199, 5-208. Bowling:
M Suji 10-1-27-0, Odoyo 9-2-37-1, Ongondo 1-0-6-0, C Obuya 10-0-31-2, Odumbe 10-1-50-0, Tikolo 6-0-41-0, T Suji 3-0-30-2.
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Elite B struggle in second innings on rain-hit day
Bangalore, April 5 Elite “B” have to score 79 runs to avoid an innings defeat and face a daunting task on a wet pitch with intermittent drizzle continuing till this evening. Due to overnight rain, play could not be resumed in the morning because of wet pitch conditions. Under the BCCI rules, pitch cannot be covered for Duleep Trophy matches in case of rain. Umpires M.R. Singh and Suresh Shastri inspected the pitch thrice at 1000 a.m. 12 noon and 1 p.m. and declared that play was not possible. When play resumed at 1.30 p.m., Elite “A”, who were 362 for eight overnight, declared their first innings, registering a 143-run first innings lead. Elite “B” started their second innings shakily, loosing opener Wasim Jaffer (5), who was caught by Venugopal Rao off Irafan Pathan (Jr) with only five runs on the board. Off spinner Sarandeep Singh dismissed the other opener Amit Pagnis for a duck and later sent back A.T. Rayadu (0) with Elite ‘B’ reeling at 23 for three. Then Elite “B” lost the wicket of Vinayak Mane, who was bowled by R.S. Sodhi with the score at 34. Arun Yadav (19) and M.S.K. Prasad (15) were batting when play was called off due to bad light and a steady drizzle.
SCOREBOARD Elite B (1st innings): 219 decl Elite A (1st innings): 362-8 Elite B (2nd innings): A Pagnis c and b Sarandeep 0, W. Jaffer c Rao b Pathan 5, V. Mane b Sodhi 22, A.T. Rayudu c sub (Vinay) b Sarandeep, Arjun Yadav not out 19, M.S.K. Prasad not out 15. Extras:
(b-2, nb-1) 3 Total: (4 wkts, 33 overs) 64 FoW: 1-5, 2-23, 3-23, 4-34. Bowling: Pathan 10-3-27-1, Bangar 4-3-1-0, Sarandeep Singh 8-5-14-2, Sodi 6-2-11-1, Kanwat 4-1-5-0, Sriram 1-0-4-0.
Elite C inch towards Hyderabad: Elite C were hurtling towards victory after Ajit Agarkar and S.K. Trivedi claimed four wickets each to bundle out Plate A for just 182 runs in the second innings on the penultimate day here. At the close of play, Elite C, who enjoy a 15-run first innings lead, were 24 without loss, needing only 144 more runs to secure a win. Earlier, Elite C resumed at their overnight 251 for seven and ended their first innings at 278 in reply to Plate A score of 263. Overnight batsman N Doru hit a brilliant 74 with the help of eight hits to the fence and was mainly responsible for Elite C attaining the slender first innings lead. Trivedi and Agarkar wrecked the Plate A top order with raw pace and swing, with Agarkar drawing the first blood when he uprooted Ronald Barrington’s stumps at the score of five. At the same score, Trivedi dismissed opener R. Jaiswal and skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar off successive deliveries. First innings hero Abhijit Kale (3) too went down to Trivedi, leaving Plate A in a miserable position at 14 for four. Rajesh Kumar and TVS Naidu defied the bowling by adding 110 runs for sixth wicket and stabilised the innings to a certain extent before Agarkar struck again to dismiss Rajesh for 55 which came off 155 balls. Naidu survived a little longer to script a more fluent and enterprising 75 in 130 balls with eight fours and two mighty sixes but was beaten by the spin of Nilesh. Plate ‘A’ (1st innings): 263 Elite ‘C’ (1st innings): S Parab run out 12, S S Das lbw b Joshi 73, Yere Goud c Jaiswal b Ananthpadmanabhan 23, J Martin c Barrington b Shaik 1, P Dharmani lbw b Kanitkar 23, N Doru c Naidu b Joshi 74,P Patel lbw b Joshi 8, A Agarkar b Shaik 22, N Kulkarni c Joshi b Ganesh 14, A Bhandari c Naidu b Ananthpadmanabhan 5, S K Trivedi not out 2. Extras: (b-2, lb-7, w-3, nb-9) 21. Total: (all out, 99.1 overs) 278. Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-51, 3-57, 4-120, 5-149, 6-173, 7-219, 8-256, 9-274. Bowling: Ganesh 22-6-45-1, Rajeev Kumar 3-1-7-0, Joshi 36.1-7-72-3, Shaik 19-2-57-2, Ananthpadmana-bhan 14-0-54-2, Kanitkar 5-0-34-1. Plate ‘A’ (2nd innings): R Jaiswal c Patel b Trivedi 1, R Barrington b Agarkar 4, H Kanitkar c Patel b Trivedi 0, A Kale c Yere Goud b Trivedi 3, R Kumar c Yere Goud b Agarkar 55, Yashpal Singh b Bhandari 9, TVS Naidu b Kulkarni 75, S Joshhi c Patel b Agarkar 4, D Ganesh c Patel b Agarkar 9, K Ananthpadmanabhan lbw b Trivedi 13, F Shaik not out 1. Extras: (lb-7, w-1) 8. Total: (all out, 61.5 overs) 182. Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-5, 3-5, 4-14, 5-29, 6-139, 7-143, 8-155, 9-180. Bowling:
Agarkar 15-5-40-4, Trivedi 14.5-2-41-4, Bhandari 15-7-35-1, Kulkarni 15-3-44-1, Das 2-0-15-0. Elite ‘C’ (2nd innings): S Parab batting 10, S S Das batting 12. Extras:
(lb-1, w-1) 2. Total: (for no loss, 12 overs) 24. Bowling: Ganesh 4-1-5-0, Joshi 5-1-9-0, Shaik 2-0-7-0, K Ananthpad-manabhan 1-0-2-0.
PTI |
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NCA to decide on
stadium construction New Delhi, April 5 NCA vice-chairman C.K. Khanna said here the meeting would also consider the proposals put forward by NCA director Brijesh Patel and chairman of Talent Research Development Wing Dilip
Vengsarkar, regarding the nurturing of junior talent. It may be mentioned that the Delhi Development Authority has allotted a few acres of land near the Yamuna river, close to Noida in New Delhi, to the BCCI to construct a cricket complex. But the BCCI has apparently put the project on hold due to stiff opposition from the Delhi and District Cricket Association. Mr Khanna said the NCA Committee meeting would also approve the venues for the zonal cricket academies for 2003, select coaches, including specialised coaches, physiotherapists and trainers for the academies, and other related matters. Meanwhile, Delhi under-15 captain Karan
Harit, under-17 captain Gaurav Chhabra and Gaurav Sharma have been selected for the NCA coaching camps in Bangalore. |
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Chamba rout Sirmour Chamba, April 5 Chamba won the toss and elected to bat. The first wicket fell at 50. Chandan Puri and Karan Deep scored 45 runs each. Chamba were all out for 175 in 35 overs. In reply, Sirmour were all out for 50 runs Chandan Puri took three wickets in three balls. Chandan claimed 5 for 12. Scores: Chamba:
175 all out Rahul b Ritvik 26, Pankil run out 15, Chandan run out 45, Bhavya b Ritvik 2, Karan Deep b Mohd Wafi 45, Raghav b Rahul 1, Mukesh lbw Aniket 1, Adhar b Rahul 2, Varun b Rahul 0, Sarik run out 0, Ashat not out 1. Extra 37. Total 175. Bowling:
Rohit 6-0-16-0, Rahul 6-0-27-3, Aniket 5-0-22-1, Aditya 5-0-39-0, Abisek 4-0-9-1, Ritvik 3-0-12-1, Mohd Wafi 3-0-19-1. Sirmour:
50 all
out Aniket b Karan Deep 1, Pankaj b Chandan 16, Aksit b Mukesh 4, Aditiya b Mukesh 0, Avisek b Chandan 0, Rahul b Chandan 0, Mohd Wafi b Sarik 10, Nahid Ali b Sarik 3, Rohit b Chandan 0, Rahul b Chandan 0, Ritvik not out 2, Extra 14. Total 50 all out. Bowling:
Ashit 3-1-3-0, Karan Deep 3-0-6-1, Chandan 7-1-14-5, Mukesh 4-017-2, Sarik 3-0-8-2. |
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SAF Games may be moved to Lanka Islamabad, April 5 The venue can be shifted if five of the member countries so desire. India, who pulled out of the Games citing security threats to its athletes in Islamabad, is not attending the meeting. The jinxed Games were first postponed in the wake of September 11 terror attacks on the USA and then due to the troubled relations between India and Pakistan last year. The Games were then scheduled for March 29 to April 7 this year but the war in Iraq forced the organisers to defer it once again.
PTI
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Punjab
Police athletic meet results Jalandhar, April 5 Results: 10 km walk (Women) final: Sandeep Kaur (Border Zone) 100m (under 35) (officers) final: 1- Kavstubh Sharma (Jal) 400m walk (doctors, Dy DA and ADA) final: 1 Dr Arun Kumar Sharma (PAP Zone) 2 Dr Dharamvir (PAP Zone) 500m (men) final: 1 Bhupinder Singh (PAP Zone) 2 Prem Pal (PAP Zone) 3 Baldev Raj (Jal) Discuss throw (women) final: 1 Baljit Kaur (Jal) 2 Narinder Kaur (Patiala Zone) 3 Sarabjit Kaur (Jal) High jump (women): final: 1 Rajwinder Kaur (Border Zone) 3 Sandeep Kaur (Border Zone) Basketball: Border Zone Combined Zone 34-10; PAP Zone Patiala Zone 68-50. Kabaddi:
PAP Zone Combined Zone 49-10; Patiala Zone Border Zone 40-33. Hockey:
PAP Zone beat Jalandhar Zone 6-0 Handball: Patiala Zone Jalandhar Zone 27-24; PAP Zone won by walkover; Jalandhar Zone won by walkover. Judo: 56 kg category: 1 Navjot Chana (PAP Zone) 2 Sanjeev Kumar (PAP Zone) 3 Bal Krishan (Jal) 60 kg: 1 Vikas Kumar (PAP Zone); 2 Kuldeep Raj (PAP Zone); 3 Chaman Lal (Jal) and Vishisht Gill (PAP Zone) Open weight: 1 Mohinder Singh (PAP Zone) 2 Amritpal Singh (PAP Zone) 3 Ranjit Singh (Jal) and Sushil Kumar
(Jal). |
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New York, April 5
