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Saturday,
May 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Windies keen to keep up momentum ICC releases World Cup prize money Serena cruises into last eight Hewitt, Federer bite the dust |
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Indian hockey team
finalised Mukherjee Bagan
coach Cricketers, cinema stars unite for a cause Greene out to prove
his superiority Ajeetesh rallies to
win
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Windies keen to keep up momentum Kingston (Jamaica), May 16 The cricket world was buzzing as Brian Lara’s young team created Test history with the highest fourth innings
run chase of 418 for seven last Tuesday to floor the Australians who were shooting for an unprecedented 4-0 Caribbean series whitewash. It was a heroic performance that may finally have instilled the self-belief that has been missing in West Indies cricket since the heyday of Viv Richards and their deadly four-man pace attack of the 1980s. “We have now set a standard and we kept the standard up and we made the greatest run chase in the history of the game and that’s what we are going to take forward,” Lara said in the wake of the three-wicket victory at St John’s. Now Lara’s team face another mountain with Ricky Ponting’s World Cup champions putting on the line their 17-match unbeaten run, stretching back to last January. Australia beat all-comers at the World Cup in southern Africa last February/March culminating in their 125-run demolition of India in the final at the Wanderers ground in Johannesburg on March 23. Ponting slammed an unbeaten 140 off 121 balls and shared an unbroken third-wicket stand of 234 with Damien Martyn (88 not out) to fire Australia to a record 359 for 2 from 50 overs — Australia’s highest total in one-day internationals and the best-ever in a World Cup final. But the Windies may be catching Australia at the right time as Ponting’s men are on the tailend of an exhausting 10-month playing schedule, with many, particularly among the Test team, having their thoughts on home over the closing weeks of their Caribbean tour. Ponting is recovering from a virus which forced him out of the final Test and there are concerns over the flagging fast bowlers, particularly the injury-prone Jason Gillespie, Australia’s best bowler in the Test series. Ponting believes there is no reason his team cannot continue their winning streak. Ponting is still not back to full-strength after a sapping virus which prevented him from adding to his outstanding performances in the opening three Tests, yet it was still enough for him to be voted man of the series. “It’s going to take me a bit of time to get back to feeling 100 per cent again but I feel OK,” Ponting said. The West Indies beat India 4-3 on the subcontinent last November/December to underline their one-day potential, but their progress at the World Cup was hampered by rain. Paceman Jermaine Lawson is in doubt for the Jamaican double-header with a back strain, but team officials say he will play during the series despite being reported last week for a suspected illegal bowling action. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, man of the match in the Antigua Test with his fighting century, will miss the ODI series because of a broken finger on his left hand and Carlton Baugh replaces wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs, who needs to fully recover from injuries.
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ICC releases World Cup prize money New Delhi, May 16 The International Cricket Council (ICC) this week released a cheque of over $ 900,000 to the Indian cricket board for the squad members for their brilliant display in world’s biggest cricketing event, highly placed sources in BCCI said. But the ICC has released the money with the condition that 30 per cent of the amount must be kept aside as a cover for tax demand, if any, from the local regulators of the 2003 World Cup, the South African Revenue Service. “Though the South African regulatory body has not so far made a tax demand of 30 per cent on the prize money released, it is something which could still be made in near future, according to the ICC instructions received by us,” said a top board official. The ICC did not hold back the prize money only in the case of Indian cricket team, but they did the same with the rest of the participating nations as well, including winners Australia. A winner in the league stage of the World Cup received $10,000. It jumped to $40,000 for the winners in the Super Six stage, $ 400,000 in the semi-finals and $2,000,000 in the final. The runner-up’s share was $ 800,000. The Indian players are fortunate to have received tax exemption from Finance Minister Jaswant Singh for their sterling performance in the World Cup, unlike cricketers from some other countries including minnows Kenya who have gone public in their appeal to the government to waive tax. Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo, whose team became the first non-Test playing side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, recently made a request to his government to waive the tax on income from the World Cup. Though the ICC has released the prize money due to the Indians, it has held back another “$ 8-9 million due to the BCCI as guarantee money,” for any possible claims made by the sponsors of the event, the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), for breach of contracts on the players’ contracts issue. The ICC has similarly held back $3.5 million guarantee money due to England Cricket Board (ECB) for their refusal to play in Zimbabwe during the World Cup and $2.5 million due to New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for deciding against playing in Kenya.
PTI New Delhi: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya today asserted that its dispute with the International Cricket Council regarding the guarantee money for the participation in the World Cup remains to be sorted out. Mr Dalmiya was reacting to the reports from Kolkata that the ICC had released $ 900,000 to the BCCI. He said, “Not much should be read into the release of $ 900,000 by the ICC to India.’’ “The real dispute over the players sponsorship contract remains. The ICC has not withdrawn their claim. So the release of this money means nothing,’’ he said. “Apart from the guarantee money, which the ICC has withheld, the world body owes the BCCI more money under several heads and this amount may have covered those heads such as prize money, transportation and boarding lodging,’’ the BCCI president added.
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Serena cruises into last eight Rome, May 16 Dechy was holding her own at 3-3 in the first set, until Williams stepped up a gear and produced a stream of powerful serves and returns to win the next nine games on the trot. Current holder of all four Grand Slam titles, Williams will now meet 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez in the last eight. Williams admitted she was not quick off the mark but was happy with the way she increased the tempo. “I started slowly but felt better as the match went on,” said the 21-year-old American. “But you have to give her some credit as she played well in the early part of the match.” Williams said she was expecting a far tougher challenge against Martinez, winner of four consecutive Rome titles between 1993 and 1996. Belgian number two seed Kim Clijsters eased into the last eight after a comfortable 6-0 6-3 win over Zimbabwean Cara Black. Clijsters, who lost to compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final of the German Open last week, will now meet Russian eighth seed Anastasia Myskina. Fifth seed Jennifer Capriati also advanced after defeating the unseeded Nadia Petrova, conqueror of American 10th seed Monica Seles in the previous round, 7-5 6-3. Capriati admitted the 20-year-old Russian had her in trouble in a tight first set. “I had some good and bad moments. The biggest problem was that I couldn’t break her serve,” said the three-time Grand Slam winner. The 27-year-old American will play French fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo in the next round. Mauresmo, who hit 37 winners in her 6-0 6-3 victory over Israeli 16th seed Anna Pistolesi, said the match was harder than the scoreline suggested. Japanese 13th seed Ai Sugiyama beat Swiss 17th seed Patty Schnyder 6-2 6-1 to set up a last eight clash with unseeded Slovenian Tina Pisnik.
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Hewitt, Federer bite the dust Hamburg, May 16 The Australian top seed had played six hours of tennis in overcoming his first two opponents and often looked flat against the lively 15th-seeded Chilean. Gonzalez dominated much of the match with his sharp returns and fierce forehand winners and Hewitt rarely looked capable of turning the tide. Third seed Roger Federer went down 6-3 2-6 6-3 to big-serving Australian Mark
Philippoussis. The Swiss number three seed won the first three games, then fell victim to some fine volleying and crisp passing shots. But the Australian had trouble closing out the match, failing to convert seven match points at 5-1 and saving two break points at 5-3 before winning on his ninth match point. Gustavo Kuerten’s French Open preparations were also cut short when he lost 7-6 6-4 to South African Wayne Ferreira.
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Indian hockey team finalised Bangalore, May 16 “We have more or less finalised the team of 20 members”, secretary-general of Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) K. Jothikumaran told PTI over the telephone from Chennai. Mr Jothikumaran, however, was unwilling to give the names of the players, saying IHF president K.P.S. Gill is expected to make the announcement at New Delhi on May 20 or 21. The team was chosen following recommendation of the coaches — chief coach Rajinder Singh, assistant coach Baldev Singh, goalkeepers’ coach A.B. Subbaiah and junior team coach Harendra — at the ongoing training camp here and the three-man selection committee. Karnataka State Hockey Association secretary K. Krishnamurthy, KSHA selection panel chairman R.K. Shetty and former state coach Ramesh Parameshwaran are the members of the selection committee. Mr Jothikumaran said the camp would continue till May 24, on the evening of which the team would leave for Australia, where they would take part in the double leg invitational hockey tournament at Perth and Sydney from May 28 to June eight. Besides India, the event would see in action Pakistan, Australia and Australia A. According to veteran Dhanraj Pillay, taking part in the training camp being held at the Sports Authority of India, southern centre, Australia is the side to watch out for. Pillay said India enjoyed the upper hand against Pakistan though it would all depend on which team played well in the tie on a particular day. Pakistan, who have already named the team for the tournament, will sorely miss the services of captain Mohammed Nadeem and two key players Sohail Abbas and left-half Mohammad Waseem, all three of whom were sacked on disciplinary grounds. Penalty corner specialist Abbas had played a key role in Pakistan’s win in the recent Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia. Seasoned goalkeeper Ahmed Alam has replaced Nadeem. This would be the first time that Pakistan hockey team would face India since the thaw in Indo-Pakistan relations following the peace initiatives announced by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last month in Srinagar. Chief coach Rajinder Singh said the larger gameplan of the current camp was to prepare and build a team for the Champions Trophy in August and Olympics next year. “The camp has focused its attention on short-corner conversions, defending, goal-keeping, hit-and-run and improving conversion rate of field goals,” he said, adding, the team would play the Asian style of attacking hockey. Mr Jothikumaran said the IHF was working on finding backing of corporate sector for the team and was also trying to evolve a blueprint for a national hockey league.
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Mukherjee Bagan coach Kolkata, May 16 Atanu Bhattacharjee will act as goal keeping coach. Talking to UNI, club secretary Anjan Mitra said the decision to appoint Alok Mukerjee was taken considering his age and experience. ‘’ We wanted a coach, who can train and play with the footballers. Besides, being the assistant to India’s football coach Stephen Constantine has given him valuable experience.’’ Mr P.K. Banerjee had already been appointed as the technical director of the Mohun Bagan academy at Durgapur. “So we thought of utilising his services till the beginning of November when the academy gets into full flow,” Mr Anjan Mitra said, adding thereafter Igor Shrivkin would take the responsibility and there was no questioning his capability. Unlike previous years this time the team had been made by a committee of five members and so inspite of deciding last Saturday that president Tutu Bose will have the final say, he advised a unanimous decision in this regard. Anjan Mitra had asked all the coaches to fax him their demands by 11 am today after which the team management would sit in a meeting discussing the proposals. The team management went through the rigours of four hour closed door meeting during which all the proposals were considered and the decision arrived at. Following the unceremonious removal of Subrata Bhattacharjee, Mohun Bagan had been travelling far and wide in search of a replacement. While some of the premier coaches like Sukhwinder Singh and Md Habib had directly refused their proposal, others were considering the pay cheque. Several names had come up for discussion and among them were a few foreign coaches like Igor Shrivkin, Sammy Omolo and even former India coach Rustom Akramov.
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Cricketers, cinema stars unite for a cause Johannesburg, May 16 The match between three teams of Indian film stars and local and Indian cricketers took place at Centurion Stadium here yesterday as the first of several events that will culminate in the fourth annual IIFA Awards for the best in Indian cinema on Saturday. The brainchild of actor Sunil Shetty, who led one of the teams, the charity match will now become an annual part of the IIFA Awards, which are taken to different countries each year to showcase Indian cinema internationally. “Depending on the country we go to, it may be cricket, soccer, or whatever is popular there, but an IIFA sporting event is definitely now a permanent feature that will benefit not only a worthy cause in the host country but also the Indian cinema workers,” said Sabbas Joseph, Director of Wizcraft, which co-ordinates the IIFA Awards. The actors, cricketers and directors who are here for the awards enjoyed the eight-overs-a-side round robin matches as much as the 2,000 spectators who turned up to see them. As the two great passions of India - cricket and cinema - joined forces on the field, the locals’ eyes were straining more to the dressing rooms at the back of the stadium than on to the field as they tried to catch a glimpse of their idols. Many clamoured for an autograph or handshake as the stars made their way down the long stairway onto or off the field after they were out. Team Samsung were led by Anil Kapoor, with members including Mohammed Kaif, Mahesh Manjrekar, Zayed Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sunil Shetty, Chunkey Panday and Anil Kapoor. Anil’s brother Sanjay was in the Sony Sunil Shetty XI, which included Vinod Kambli, Harbhajan Singh, Sharad Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and David Dhawan. The Sahara Venkatesh XI included the company’s director Kunal Dasgupta, Dino Morea, Aftab Shivdasani, Shakti Kapoor, Fardeen Khan and Dinesh
Mongia. IANS |
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Greene out to prove his superiority Portland, May 16 “It really doesn’t matter what the weather is like,” the former world record holder said, alluding to the forecast of cool, damp conditions for the grand prix meeting. “I’m going to give something for everybody to talk about.” A lack of fitness cost Greene dearly last season as seven major race defeats dumped him from the number one ranking he had held for four consecutive years. Then, with Greene looking on, American rival Tim Montgomery grabbed his 100 metres world record with a 9.78-second clocking at the Paris Grand Prix final. “Of course it hurt,” Greene said of the sub-par year.
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Ajeetesh rallies to
win Chandigarh, May 16 Ajeetesh scored a double when he clinched the Category B (under 15) title defeating another Chandigarh boy by a big margin of 24 strokes. Ajeetesh and Jaskirat started the competition by returning identical cards of 79. The second day saw Aajeetesh stealing the march over Jaskirat by two strokes. They had cards of 75 and 77, respectively. But on the third day it was bad going for the Chandigarh lad. He committed mistakes and paid the price, returning a card of 77. Jaskirat with a card of 71 had stolen a four-stroke lead. But Ajeetesh was in no mood to give up. He had fought back in Mumbai, he would do it again. He started the fourth day with a bang and his opponent, Jaskirat fumbled. The end result was a one-under card of 71 as against Jaskirat's five-over score of 77. Ajeetesh won the title by
two strokes. Ajeetesh had a total score of 302, followed by Jaskirat S. Dullet (304) and Aditya Singh of Delhi (306). Gaganjeet Bhullar of Kapurthala finished fourth with a score of 309. The other results: Category B (under 15): Ajeetesh Sandhu 302, Fatebir D haliwal 326, Bhawani Parmar 334 Category C (under 12):
Amanjot Singh (Jaipur) 306, Rahul Bakshi (Chandigarh) 322, Pritam Haridas 331. Category D (under 10): Virat Badhwar 252, Rommel Majumdar 257, Kshitij Mehta 278
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Ankita, Liza in final New Delhi, May 16 Bhambri, who won the match 6-4 6-4, will clash with Liza Pereira who played near perfect tennis to end Archana Venkataraman’s fine run in the competition earlier in the day. Both the semi-finals at the DLTA courts were one-sided affairs as Liza also won the tie comfortably, 6-1 6-1. Bhambri, who has a fine outing in the meet so far having earlier caused a minor upset defeating fourth seeded Isha Lakhani yesterday, faced little opposition from Shruti in the second semi-finals. Similarly, Liza had no difficulty in brushing aside the challenge of Archana, who played much below her potential to crash out of the competition after some fine show in the early part of the tournament.
PTI |
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Sports calendar
released Chandigarh, May 16 He said that inter-zonal yoga competitions would be organised at Rewari from August 12 to 13. District level women sports festival would be organised at all district headquarters from August 25 to 27. State level Major Dhyan Chand Sports Day would be celebrated on August 29 at Shahbad in Kurukshetra district. Block level rural sports competitions would be organised in all the blocks of the State on any day between September 2 and 6. The state level women sports festival would be organised at Narnaul from September 9 to 11. District level rural games would be organised at all the districts headquarters from September 16 to 18. State level rural games would be organised from September 29 to October 1 at Jind. Inter-zonal gymnastics championship would be organised from October 14 to 16 at Bhiwani. He further informed that district ‘Akhara’, ‘Kesari’ and ‘Kumar’ wrestling championships would be organised from November 18 to 20 at all the district headquarters of the state. State level ‘Akhara’, ‘Kesari’ and ‘Kumar’ wrestling championships would be organised at Dadri in district Bhiwani from December 9 to 11. The teams for participating in the National Women Sports Festival would be sent after receiving information from SAF. Besides, teams participating in All India Rural Games would also be sent as per the information received from SAF. |
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Kingston (Jamaica), May 16
World number one and defending champion Serena Williams cruised into the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters after pounding Nathalie Dechy of France 6-3 6-0 here at the Foro
Italico.
Stars of Indian cinema and cricket, including Zayed Khan, Dinesh
Mongia, Saif Ali Khan and Sunil Shetty, delighted fans at a cricket match in South Africa of the International Indian Film Academy. The inaugural IIFA cricket match to assist the families of backroom workers in the Indian film industry was a success for obvious reasons.
