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Monday,
April 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Indians rout Kiwis 4-1, qualify for world group playoff
Krishnan praises Bopanna
Argentina eliminate title holders Russia |
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Chance for newcomers to prove worth Dravid coped well with tough triple job Waugh, Hayden blast tons Windies, Kiwis top groups Olonga on way to England 7-wicket win for Elite ‘A’ Elite ‘C’ sail to 9-wicket win
Indian spikers beat Thailand India go down to Turkmenistan AAFI releases annual calendar Aussies name hockey squad Police sports meet results TFA beat BSF
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Indians
rout Kiwis 4-1, qualify for
Kolkata, April 6 It proved to be a highly rewarding day for the hosts, as estranged doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi reunited on the court, albeit briefly, in the morning and played vintage tennis to overwhelm Alistair Hunt and Mark Nielsen and put the hosts ahead 2-1 in the Asia-Oceania group I second round tie. While Paes and Bhupathi won 6-3 6-2 6-2 in 100 minutes, Bopanna took 13 minutes less to beat Shortall 6-3 6-2 6-4 in the first reverse singles on the South Club lawns, reducing the fifth match into a dead rubber. Davis Cup wizard Paes then exhibited his awesome form once again to steamroll a clueless Robert Cheyne 6-1 6-0 in the second reverse singles to register his 65th victory in the tournament. Paes had earlier scripted an authoritative straight set win over Mark Nielsen on Friday, before Bopanna went down to Alistair Hunt in a gruelling five setter yesterday. The morning brought cheers among the spectators in the near-capacity venue as Bhupathi and Paes, affectionately called the ‘Indian Express’ for their splendid display in the doubles circuit, rejoined forces on the court. The duo, who split for the second time last year due to personal differences and chose their separate partners in the professional circuit, had last played together against Japan in the preceding round of the tournament two months back at New Delhi and made mince-meat of June Kato and Thomas Shimada. But today the fancied pair initially seemed tentative on serve. Paes conceded three break points in the opening game, before rallying to win five points in a row and retain the serve, but Bhupathi was broken in the third game. The early reversal acted like a wake-up call for the Indians, who reworked their old magic to perfection and broke the New Zealanders in the very next game to draw parity at 2-2. Thereafter, ‘Lee-Hesh’ proved unstoppable. They conceded only one more point in three service games and broke Nielsen in the eighth, before Paes fired on all cylinders in the ninth, unleashing three aces to finish the first set 6-3. As the game progressed, the Indians improved their cohesion, with Leander covering the court well, sending down lethal serves, spectacular down the line shots and cross court returns. Paes also seemed the more aggressive of the two on serve, firing seven aces, as against only one by Bhupathi. The Indians broke Hunt in the fifth game of the second set after a marathon rally involving 21 points, while Nielsen’s serve was vanquished in the seventh. Serving at 5-2, Bhupathi closed the set with an ace on the final point, as the Indians won five games on the trot. The third set had a similar script, with Hunt hitting a backhand return out to drop serve in the fifth. While Paes had little difficulty to hold serve in the sixth, Nielsen was demolished in the next game. The one-sided tie ended in the eighth game on Bhupathi’s serve, as Hunt hit a backhand return out to bring the Indians on gamepoint, before Paes slammed a forehand winner to send the Sunday crowd into raptures. Bopanna played a more disciplined game today. He cut down on the number of double faults and played well within his limitations to put it across Shortall, who seemed struggling on grass. The 22-year old Karnataka boy played some good overhead lobs from near the nets, though at times he was tentative while moving up the court. Though the Kiwi got a break point in the third game of the opening set, he failed to make the most of it before his serve was broken in the sixth. Bopanna clinched the set 6-3 in half an hour, despite committing two consecutive double faults and staved off a break point in the ninth game. Buoyed by the win, Bopanna started the second set on a positive note, demolishing Shortall’s serve in the first and third games, to race to a 4-0 lead. The next four games went with serve as Bopanna pocketed the set 6-2. The two players retained serve in the opening four games of the third set, before Bopanna put pressure on Shortall’s service in the fifth but the Kiwi survived two break points and managed to prevent a collapse. Bopanna, meanwhile, grew in confidence, letting go booming serves, and kept serve in the sixth and eighth games without conceding a single point. The Indian again made a charge on Shortall’s serve in the ninth game and tasted success as the Kiwi became a bundle of nerves and double faulted at 30-40, to trail 4-5. Bopanna easily won the next game, without letting Shortall score a point to clinch the set and match for India. At 30-0, he produced an ace before ending Shortall’s misery with a delicate backhand volley. With the tie decided, the final game was shortened to a best of three sets which Paes won in only 53 minutes. Cheyne managed to hold serve in the second game of the opening set, but lost 11 consecutive games thereafter against the flamboyant Indian who won all his three matches in the tie. PTI
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Krishnan praises Bopanna
Kolkata, April 6 I was confident in my game today and focussed on not making errors. I did not repeat the mistakes I made against (Alistair) Hunt yesterday,” Bopanna told newspersons, after ensuring an Indian victory in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania second round tie against New Zealand by overwhelming Shortall in the first reverse singles. Bopanna, who went down to Hunt in a gruelling five setter yesterday despite taking the first two sets, expressed his gratitude to non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan for helping him regain confidence. “It is always difficult to stage a comeback after losing such a match. But Ramesh helped me get back my confidence and prepare myself mentally for today’s outing,” the 22-year old from Coorg said. Bopanna said he was planning to play more challengers to lift his singles ranking, which now stood at 348. “If I can improve my ranking, it will help India in Davis Cup, because then we can get weaker opponents,” he said. Krishnan praised Bopanna, saving he was a much improved player now. “He is now much sharper, specially in his returns. On the whole he performed better than he fared in Delhi in the Davis Cup match against Japan,” he said. Leander Paes said despite Bopanna’s loss to Hunt, his side was confident of putting it across the Kiwis. “We knew that if we could play our own game, there will be no problem in winning the rubber,” he said. Paes admitted that Nielsen’s absence from the crucial first reverse singles proved advantageous for India. Underscoring the bonhomie and team spirit in the Indian dressing room, Paes said: “We supported each other and came up well as a team”. On the doubles match in which he paired with Mahesh Bhupathi to humble mark Nielsen and Hunt, Paes said “we had our job done professionally”. Asked about India’s possible rival in the paly-off for the World Group, Krishnan said it will be known within the next ten days, but added that the tie will be played in September. New Zealand non-playing captain Glenn Wilson said Nielsen was kept out of the fourth rubber as he was not feeling well after playing the doubles in the morning. Wilson said that India held an edge on his side because of the lethal doubles combination of Paes and Bhupathi besides the home advantage. “We knew we had no chance in the doubles. Winning three singles to hold the rubber is very difficult”, he said. Krishnan, however, said India had triumphed in a lot of matches at the Asia-Oceania level abroad. “The home advantage works in favour of host countries everywhere”. PTI
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Argentina
eliminate title holders Russia
Malmo (Sweden), April 6 Lucas Arnold and David Nalbandian defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Mikhail Youzhny, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in 2 hours 36 minutes in Buenos Aires to give Argentina an unsurmountable 3-0 lead. By winning, Argentina avenged their semifinal loss from last year and defeated Russia for the first time. Nalbandian and Gaston Gaudio had set the stage on Friday with singles wins over Nikolay Davikenko and Kafelnikov, respectively. Russia were badly handicapped because their top player Marat Safin was sidelined with an injury. In the September 19-21 semifinals, Argentina now face a ricky trip to Spain, who lead the series 1-0 and also completed their victory over the Croatia in the doubles. In Valencia, veteran clay-court maestros Alex Corretja and current Roland Garros holder Albert Costa claimed the decisive point for the Iberians 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 over the Croatian pair of Ivan Ljubicic and Lovro Zokvo. Australia, meanwhile, remained on track towards a 28th title when court-smart Aussie specialist Todd Woodbridge and huge-serving Wayne Arthurs completed the victory job over hosts Sweden, defeating Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Enqvist 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in Malmo. Woodbridge took a vast store of insider’s knowledge into the doubles duel against Bjorkman and Enqvist as he is Bjorkman’s regular doubles partner, with the pair winning two Grand Slams including Wimbledon last summer. There was nothing that the Swede could do which his ATP partner had not already seen. ‘’It was to my advantage,’’ said Woodbridge, with 21 doubles wins now the top man ever for Australia in that Davis victory category. ‘’I knew Jonas’ strengths and weakness so well. ‘’I was able to help Wayne anticipate; we were onto everything Jonas could come up with. It was one of those matches.’’
Captain John Fitzgerald was satisfied: ‘’It was outstanding how our guys combined. It was the best these two have played together by a long way. They did everything right. The doubles triumph, combined with a pair of Friday singles wins from Mark Philippoussis and Lleyton Hewitt - over Bjorkman and Enqvist respectively - assure Australia a September semi against the winner from France and Switzerland. After losing Friday’s first singles match, the Swiss have been on a tear in Toulouse, with all-purpose Roger Federer and over-30 player-coach Marc Rosset carving out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) doubles win against Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro and Nicolas Escude. The victory, which comes in the wake of Federer’s Friday singles victory, put the Swiss up 2-1. DPA
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Sangakkara powers Lanka win Sharjah, April 6 Sangakkara, who had struck 100 not out in Sri Lanka’s loss against Pakistan on Friday, remained unbeaten on 103 that propelled his team to 256 for five after skipper Sanath Jayasuriya had elected to bat. In reply, the Kenyan innings folded for just 127 runs in 37.5 overs with former captain Maurice Odumbe top-scoring with 42 runs. Kenya’s top order failed miserably and they were reeling at 35 for four in the 11th over before Odumbe took charge of the proceedings. He got good support from Thomas Odoyo, who made 21, but their partnership did not last very long. Odoyo was out at the total of 97 and once Jayasuriya, who earlier in the day became only the fourth batsman to complete 9,000 runs in one-day internationals, dismissed Odumbe in the 33rd over, the Kenyan resistance ended with Muttiah Muralitharan cleaning up the rest of the batting order. Muralitharan was the most successful of the Sri Lankan bowlers, claiming three wickets from his 6.5 overs, while Jayasuriya and Prabath Nissanka chipped in with two wickets each. Some undistinguished batting in the initial overs saw the Sri Lankans, who elected to bat, reached 104 for three at half way stage before some brisk scoring by Sangakkara and Hashan Tilakaratne (43) took the Asian team past the 250-mark. The two added 93 runs for the fourth wicket. The Lankan wicketkeeper batsman took 108 balls to compile his knock with the help of nine boundaries while veteran Tilakaratne faced 56 balls and hit two fours. SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya lbw b Suji 36 Gunawardene c Otieno b Odoyo 24 Atapattu c Odumbe Sangakkara not out 103 Tillakaratne c Odumbe Lokuarachchi b Suji 8 Dharmasena not out 16 Extras: (b-1, lb-1, w-3, nb-2) 7 Total: (for 5
wkts, Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-64, 3-98, 4-191, 5-220. Bowling: Odoyo 10-3-39-1, Luseno 4-0-26-0, Ongondo 4-0-23-0, Suji 8-0-52-2, C Obuya 10-1-38-2, Odumbe 10-0-56-0, Tikolo 4-0-20-0. Kenya Otieno c Jayawardene Obuya c Tillakaratne Patel c Tillakaratne Tikolo c Gunawardene Odoyo lbw b Dharmasena 21 Odumbe lbw b Jayasuriya 42 Modi c Muralitharan Obuya c Nissanka T Suji not out 3 Ongondo st Jayawardene Luseno b Muralitharan 0 Extras: (lb-2, w-7, nb-3) 12 Total: (all out, 37.5 overs) 127 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-8, 3-35, 4-35, 5-97, 6-105, 7-111, 8-123, 9-127. Bowling: Fernando 5-1-17-1, Nissanka 6-0-26-2, Lokuarachchi 6-0-22-1, Muralitharan 6.5-2-16-3, Dharmasena 6-0-23-1, Jayasuriya 8-0-21-2.
PTI
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Chance for newcomers to prove worth
New Delhi, April 6 The series involving India, South Africa and Bangladesh gets underway this Friday. It will see four new faces in the Indian team Speedster Aavishkar Salvi and middle-order batsman Abhijit Kale from Mumbai and Maharashtra respectively have both shown promise in the Ranji Trophy. Abhijit Kale, the 29-year-old, though not as young as Salvi and Gambhir, is yet another cricketer, who has been performing consistently well on the domestic scene. His last season aggregate score of 683 runs in the Ranji league has helped him get a place in the national squad. His tally of 683 runs is the third best aggregate behind Gautam Gambhir (802) and Hrishikesh Kanitkar (734). All the newcomers would undoubtedly be looking to repeat their recent successes in Dhaka, when the team takes off for Bangladesh on April 9. The series is something very special for firebrand striker Virender Sehwag, who has been named skipper Saurav Ganguly’s deputy. Sehwag may get to learn a few things about the thorny seat. And quite understandably, Ganguly, who lost out on the big Cup, will try his best to motivate the young members to win this one! The South African team, will also be eager to prove a point, looking at this triangular as an ideal launch pad for their new combination. The South Africans’ confidence may have hit rock bottom after their inglorius ouster from the World Cup, but the new outfit led by youngster Graeme Smith, has a point or two to prove. They also will be looking forward to playing with India — the team that went to the finals without having to play the No 1 Test team in the world. Deposed skipper Shaun Pollock represents the legacy left behind by the Pollocks — his father and uncle, Peter and Graeme respectively. Shaun will try to be at his best to regain some of the pride he had lost as captain in the World Cup. Makhaya Ntini will be another cricketer eager to strike back along with Andrew Hall and Shaun Pollock. Their batting will depend on Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher, Boeta Dippenaar with allrounder Jacques Kallis being the mainstay of the team. And, for the hosts Bangladesh, the tri-series also named the TVS Cup affords them another chance to prove their worth as a test-playing nation, which of late has been eroded after a cavalier run in South Africa. In this triangular tournament, the Bangladesh cricket team will come under severe scrutiny. The Bangladeshis have so far failed to show any progress in either type of cricket — Test or one-day — since they got the recognition as the full member of the ICC. Mohammad Ashraful, Sanwar Hossain, Alok Kapali, Manjural Islam, new captain Khaled Mahmud and Khaled Mashud did show glimpses of talent on a few occasions, but their overall performance will have to improve. However, the exposure and the experience that the youngsters from Bangladesh have gained during the recent big trip will prove only beneficial for their cricket. With all the teams having something to play for, the tournament promises only one thing—a great contest. The series will be telecast live on Star Sports. UNI Schedule (1.30 p.m.) April 11 India Vs Bangladesh April 13 India Vs South Africa April 14 Bangladesh Vs South Africa April 16 India Vs Bangladesh April 17 Bangladesh Vs South Africa April 18 India Vs South Africa April 20 Final April 21 Reserve day |
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Dravid coped well with tough triple job As one of the country’s most eligible bachelors prepares to enter matrimony, Rahul Dravid may also prepare for a life beyond the wicket-keeper’s gloves. The tactical move that saw him keep wickets in the last World Cup has really run its full course. Dravid will not be in Dhaka where India is scheduled to take part in a tri-series this week. The specialist keeper Parthiv Patel will no doubt don the gloves there and, perhaps, for a long time to come, especially if he picks up quickly on his batting. A team man to the core, Dravid coped well with the difficult triple job of keeping wickets, being vice-captain of the side and hence a prominent member of the think tank and then featuring anywhere in the order, being shunted up and down the order like some batting weathervane. Considering the number of hits a ‘keeper takes on his fingers, donning the gloves may have been the most difficult, even dreadful, of the three tasks. It is hard enough being a fielder in a game played with a hard leather ball. The gauntlets do not protect a cricketer’s fingers as much as people may imagine, It was in World Cup ’99 that the idea of Dravid keeping wickets was first born. It was actually an unfortunate accident that led to Dravid first keeping wickets. Nayan Mongia was injured at practice and Dravid had to keep. Suddenly, team composition seemed better as India could play seven batsmen. Dravid was in such fine form as to score his second successive hundred in the World Cup in the morning and keep wickets in the afternoon against Sri Lanka at Taunton in Somerset. Batting first is not a luxury ‘keepers often get and a hard session with the gauntlets on first can be a dampener on batting form even for specialists like Adam Gilchrist. Dravid did not always have to keep as India switched back to specialist Mongia for the next game against England. But the idea had germinated that Dravid, who had actually begun his club career as a ‘keeper, could be groomed for the one-day job. It was an experiment that had to be run for the expediency of team composition. And a World Cup seemed important enough for one cricketer to be asked to sacrifice his personal interest and take on the tough job. Of course, making sacrifices was nothing new for Dravid. That day in Tautnon was the day on which Dravid (145) raced to his century at close to a run a ball. That was also the day on which Dravid stepped forward from the ordinary to higher reaches as a one-day player. He became a batsman to whom working the strike and playing the big shots in limited-overs cricket was no more an unbearable burden. It was no more than a progression to a higher state of mind in which it becomes possible to translate natural talent into being malleable enough to suit any game situation. Having wiped out once for all the image of a batsman struggling to cope with the strange demands of limited-overs cricket, Dravid has not looked back since. To his credit, Dravid also improved so much as a wicket-keeper that he was beginning to make some great catches, even classic ones. But the finger injury he sustained in the match against Kenya seemed to set him back so much that some doubt was even expressed over his availability for the final. It would have taken a lot more than a painful finger to keep Dravid, the team man, out of a World Cup final. But it is time to forget his catches as a one-day keeper and his stumpings, too. Dravid is too valuable a resource to be spent standing behind the wickets. Anything that may detract from his merits as a batsman should not be allowed to come in the way of his contribution with the willow to the team cause. Dravid will help raise standards of slip catching to the new ball while his presence will lend greater weight to the fielding in the circle. Gnarled fingers, which cricketers keep picking up as a professional hazard since they are not allowed to wear baseball catching gloves which would actually make sense if made legal in the game, should not be allowed to interfere with his batting capabilities. Switching to a five-one-five specialist formula will help the Indian cricket team advance after the fine enough showing in the World Cup. Yes, let the specialist keep from now, even after Dravid returns to the side. That will best serve the Indian cricket team even if his figures as a batsman-keeper are better than his career average. UNI
Dravid’s figures as a batsman and as a batsman-designated wicket-keeper: Matches Runs HS Ba
Av 100 50 207 6499 153 39.15 8 44 (as batsman) 47 1541 145 49.70 3 9 (as ’keeper)
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Waugh, Hayden blast tons
Waugh was unbeaten on 106 and opener Hayden made 102 as Australia made a confident start in their only match before their four-Test series against the West Indies starts in Guyana on Thursday. Opener Justin Langer (60), Martin Love (56) and Darren Lehmann (44 not out) also looked comfortable. Waugh, Langer and Love were not part of Australia’s World Cup-winning team in South Africa last month. The trio showed they had not lost touch while playing in Australia’s four-day championship in recent months after Waugh led his side to a 4-1 ashes test series win over England in January. Waugh hit 13 boundaries and swept a six on to a nearby tennis court on Saturday at the Everest ground. The 37-year-old reached his hundred in 145 balls while left-hander Hayden did so in 120 deliveries aided by the fast outfield. Waugh produced a century in his most recent Test appearance, the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney, and has also hit three for New South Wales in limited overs and four-day matches since New Year. Love, who made his Test debut in December when Lehmann fell ill before the fourth Ashes Test, is expected to join the left-handed Lehmann in the middle order for Thursday’s first test. World Cup hero Damien Martyn was ruled out on Friday with a broken finger and remained at home in Perth. Uncapped 22-year-old Michael Clarke is en route to Guyana as a replacement for Martyn, a veteran of 33 tests. Australia rested fast bowler Brett Lee and vice-captain Ricky Ponting from their opening tour match. Reuters  |
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Windies, Kiwis top groups
Castries April 6 Saturday’s play produced both disappointment and excitement. The clash between West Indians Carl Hooper and Chris Gayle and Pakistanis Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi, which had been billed as the match of the tournament, ended in an anticlimax when Pakistan conceded the match after Afridi suffered a back injury. Later England’s big-hitting Andrew Flintoff made up for the disappointment by belting 12 sixes, but was out four times and had his score reduced by 40. England’s 112 was the highest of the tournament so far, surpassing Pakistan’s 107 on Friday. Pakistan started the day with an easy win over England, which scored 38. Afridi continued from where he left off Friday, scoring 20 off the first over from Adam Hollioake, but then he suffered an injured back which restricted his movements and checked any further onslaught on the bowlers. New Zealand then got the better of South Africa to make way for the much-anticipated West Indies-Pakistan clash. Batting first, the Pakistanis were in early trouble, Hooper taking four wickets in his first two overs. But Afridi’s injury soon became a factor and after four overs, Pakistan was minus 23 runs, six wickets having fallen altogether and Afridi in much discomfort. It was then that they decided to concede the game to the West Indies. New Zealand overcame Australia, which opened the way for England’s rampage over Zimbabwe. AP
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Olonga on way to England London, April 6 According to reports here today, 26-year old pace bowler was packing his belongings at a safe house in South Africa to prepare for his epic journey to a new life in England. A report in The Mail on Sunday said a jubilant
Olonga, who quit international cricket at the end of Zimbabwe’s World Cup campaign, said last night: “I am so very pleased. I have a lot of people to thank for what they have done for me.” PTI |
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7-wicket win for Elite ‘A’
Bangalore, April 6 Needling must 78 runs in the second innings for an outright win, Elite A, who declared make first innings at 362 for eight, reached the target in the second mandatory over, losing three wickets. Sanjay Bangar (36 not out) and Y Venugopal Rao (11 not out) saw them through after three wickets — Gautam Gambhir (5), S Sriram (0) and Sodhi (15) — fell in quick succession. This win earned them eight points, taking their total points tally to 17. This is Elite A’s maiden victory, having achieved it in their fourth and last league engagement. In their three previous outings, the side managed only nine points. On the other hand, Elite B, captained by MSK Prasad, remain on 10 points, having gained the upper hand in the first innings in their first two league encounters. They take on Plate A in their final tie at Chennai from April 10. Scoreboard Elite B (Ist innings): 219 Elite A (Ist innings): 362 for eight declared Elite B (2nd innings): Pagnis c and b Sarandeep 0 Jaffer c Rao b Pathan 5 Mane b Sodhi 22 Rayudu c sub
(Vinay)
Yadav st Dasgupta b
Prasad c and b Pathan 16 Pandev c Sriram b
Bahutule c Gandhi b
Power lbw Kanwant 35 Harvinder c and b Sodhi 1 Salvi not out 1 Extras:
(b-13, lb-2, nb-4) 19 Total: (all out in 79 overs) 220 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-23, 3-23, 4-34, 5-71, 6-98, 7-126, 8-217, 9-218. Bowling:
Pathan 17-4-42-2, Bangar 6-3-14-0, Sodhi 9-3-17-2, Sarandeep 23-9-48-4, Kanwat 15-1-39-2, Sriram 8-1-41-0, Rao 1-0-4-0. Elite A (2nd innings): Gambhir c sub b Salvi 5 Bangar not out 36 Sriram c Yadav b Harvinder 0 Sodhi c Pagnis b Bahutule 15 Venugopal Rao not out 11 Extras:
(b-4, lb-3, w-1, nb-3) 11 Total: (for 3 wkts, 24.4 overs) 78 Fall of wickets:
1-12, 2-19, 3-49. Bowling: Salvi 9-2-21-1, Harvinder 9-0-24-1. Bahutule 1-17-1, Powar 0.4-0-9-0.
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Elite ‘C’ sail to 9-wicket win
Hyderabad, April 6 Elite C, after taking a slender 15-run first innings lead, bundled out Plate A for 182 and scored 172 in 46 overs to romp home with nine wickets in hand. Resuming at 24 without loss, Elite C batsmen reached the victory target in 172 minutes losing the wicket of skipper Shiv Sunder Das who was caught behind for 24. Opener Satyajit Parab cracked an authoritative 95 and added 128 runs with Yere Goud (50) for the second wicket without being seperated and reached the winning target 30 minutes before lunch with ease and elegance. Parab’s sparkling knock was studded with four towering sixes and seven fluent fours off the 138 balls he faced and was severe on Ananthapadmnaban who went for 66 runs in the 10 overs he bowled. Yere Goud too played an enterprising knock in the company of Parab with a quickfire 50 off 71 balls laced with two sixes and four hits to the fence during his 76 minute stay at the wicket. Put in to bat, Plate A were bundled out for 263, despite a defiant 98 by Abhijit Kale, in the first innings and Elite C scored 278 with skipper S S Das (73) and N Doru (74) helping the team to take first innings lead of 15 runs. In the second essay, speedsters Ajit Agarkar and S K Trivedi rattled the Plate A line up by claiming four wickets each to bundle them out of 182. Scoreboard Elite C (Ist innings):
278 Plate A (Ist innings): 263 Plate A (IInd innings):
182 Elite C (IInd innings): Overnight 24 for no loss: S. Parab not out 95, S. Das c Naidu c Ganesh 24, Yere Goud not out 50. Extras:
(lb-2, w-1) 3. Total: (for one wicket in 46 overs) 172. Fall of wickets: 1-44. Bowling: Dodda Ganesh 12-3-16-1, Sunil Joshi 17-1-38-0, Faisal Shaikh 6-1-38-0, Ananthapadmanabhan 10-0-66-0, Rowland Barrington 1-0-12-0.
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Indian spikers beat Thailand
Visakhapatnam, April 6 India list the first set but recovered well to take the next three, winning 27-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-8. Qatar, which finished eighth in the previous edition, won 25-23, 27-25, 22-25, 25-19. In Pool ‘B’ defending champions Iran had an easy win over North Korea in straight sets 3-0. However, the winners faced a tough fight from their rivals in all the sets (25-19, 25-18 and 25-15). The first set witnessed up and downs as the score was equalised on several occasions and in the second and third sets, the winners pulled up their socks and won the match in a row which lasted over an hour. Zadvand Mansour, Sadeghi Vahid, Bagher Zadeh Aref and Gholami Adel of Iran did well in all the sets, while Pak Myong, Kwon Sok Choi and Juryong Hui of North Korea performed well for their team. In another interesting and exciting encounter in pool ‘B’, China defeated Australia by 3-2. China won the first two sets but lost the third and fourth sets. In the last and deciding set, though both teams exhibited their talent to knock off the set, luck favoured China which won it ultimately 25-23, 26-24, 12-25, 23-25 and 15-13. Suizheng, Wang Zhen and Wanglei and Liu Jinjian of China did well, while Christensen Zane and Grant Andrew did a good job for Australia. UNI
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India go down to Turkmenistan
New Delhi, April 6 In a keenly contested match which remained goal-less till the last quarter, Azad Mohadov put the hosts ahead in the 75th minute. The second goal came off a penalty kick converted by Karimov in injury time, according to information received here. India: Sangram Mukherjee, Arun Malhotra, Satish Bharti, (captain), Vinu Jose, Dipankar Roy, Sukhwinder Singh (Harpreet Singh), Jatin Singh Bisht (Ishfaq Ahmed), Manitombi Singh, Tomba Singh, Asim Biswas, Alex Ambrose (Sheikh Sanjeeb). PTI
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AAFI releases annual calendar Patiala, April 6 The events kick off with the federation hosting the World Athletics Day for junior athletes in both the boys and girls sections at the NIS here on May 10 and 11. This will be followed by the first national circuit meet slated to be held at New Delhi on May 18. The second national circuit meet will be held at Nagercoil on June 10 while the third such meet will be held after a gap of more than a month at Thiruvananthapuram on July 12. The fourth and fifth national circuit meets are slated to be held at Bangalore and Chennai on July 17 and 18 respectively. These back to back meets will be followed by the prestigious Federation Cup to be held at Hyderabad from July 28 to 30. A lot of significance is attached to the three-day event as it would also act as trials to select the Indian contingent for the World Athletics Championship to be held in Paris in August on dates to be notified by the international body (IAAF) to the AAFI at a later stage. The north zone meet for junior athletes will be held at New Delhi from August 18 and 19 while the south zone meet for juniors, is scheduled to be held at Pondicherry on August 21 and 22. The junior west zone meet will be held at Pune on August 25 and 26 and will be followed by the all-important All-India Inter-State Athletic Championship to be held at Jamshedpur from September 5 to 8. The Jamshedpur championship is considered to be important for the athletics fraternity as the AAFI has made it clear that it would act as final trials to select the Indian squad for the Asian Athletic Championship to be held at Manila in September. The Senior National Open Championship will be held at Bangalore from September 27 to 29. The Indian athletics contingent that will take part in the inaugural edition of the Afro-Asian meet will be selected after the Bangalore nationals. In another significant decision, the AAFI will now be holding the inter-zonal meets for juniors in December. Earlier, these meets were held in January but evoked little response since the athletes were normally busy with their examinations.
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Aussies
name hockey squad Perth, April 6 A notable omission was defender Daniel Sproule, who was not considered after announcing his retirement after 188 matches for Australia. Squad: Mark Hickman, Stephen Lambert, Stephen Mowlam, Matthew Wells, Bevan George, Aaron Hopkins, Josh Hawes, Dean Butler, Paul Gaudoin, Brent Livermore, Liam De Young, Zain Wright, Mark Knowles, Scott Webster, Adam Commens, Ben Taylor, Travis Brooks, Troy Elder, Jamie Dwyer, Michael McCann, Craig Victory, Nathan Eglington, Tristram Woodhouse, Andrew Smith.
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Police
sports meet results Jalandhar, April 6 In another match, Patiala Zone got a walkover over Combined Zone, PAP Zone dominated most of the events by registering impressive wins over rivals. Results: Basketball:
Border zone b Combined Zone 34-10; PAP Zone b Patiala Zone 68-50; Patiala Zone b Jalandhar Zone 87-60; PAP Zone b Border Zone 87-81. Volleyball:
Jalandhar Zone b Patiala Zone 25-11, 25-23, 25-17; PAP Zone b Border Zone 25-15, 25-16, 25-22. Kabaddi:
PAP Zone b Combined Zone 49-10; Patiala Zone b Border Zone 40-33; Patiala Zone b Combined Zone 40-09; PAP Zone b Jalandhar Zone 43-12. Football:
Border Zone b Combined Zone 10-0 goals; Jalandhar Zone b Patiala Zone 4-0;. Handball:
Patiala Zone b Jalandhar Zone 27-24; PAP Zone won by walkover to Combined Zone; Jalandhar Zone got a walkover over Combined Zone. Judo:
1. 56kg: Navjot Chana (PAP Zone); 2 Sanjeev Kumar (PAP Zone); 3 Bal Krishan (Jalandhar Zone). 60 kg:
1. Vikas Kumar (PAP Zone); 2 Kuldeep Raj (PAP Zone); 3 Chaman Lal of Jalandhar Zone and Vishisht Gill (PAP Zone). 66 kg: 1. Shiv Kumar (PAP Zone); 2 Sanjay Kumar (Jalandhar Zone); 3 Sandeep Singh of Patiala Zone and Jatinder Handa (PAP Zone). Open weight category: 1. Mohinder Singh (PAP Zone); 2 Amritpal Singh (PAP Zone); 3 Ranjit Singh (Jalandhar Zone) and Sushil Kumar (Jalandhar Zone). Boxing (semi-final):
Fly weight: Ashwini Sharma (PAP Zone) got a walkover over Narinder Saini (Patiala Zone). Banten weight:
Kamaldeep Singh (PAP Zone) b Jasbir Singh (Patiala Zone) on points; 2 Amandeep Singh (PAP Zone) got a walkover over Pawan Kumar (Border Zone). Feather weight:
Parmod Singh (PAP Zone) b Rakesh Kumar (PAP Zone) on points. |
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TFA beat BSF
Thiruvananthapuram, April 6 TFA thus finished third in the team table with nine points. Air India, Mumbai and State Bank of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram finished first and second in the league with eleven and ten points, respectively, and entered the final round.
UNI
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Georgetown, April 6
