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Sunday,
May 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Champions Trophy: India,
Holland clash in opener Mauresmo ousts Serena
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Liza completes a double IOC seeks details from USOC J&K to host international golf meet Frustration for Tiger Woods Envoys of Spain, Argentina winners Srinath ‘quits’
1st-class cricket Waugh defends players ‘Revamp domestic cricket’ Quickfire 32
n.o. by Sehwag Sports’ ‘most powerful’
man McCormack dead Haryana grappler clinches title
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Champions Trophy: India, Holland clash in opener New Delhi, May 17 India, who are yet to win the prestigious title in their nine appearances in the game’s premier event so far, finished fourth in the last edition at Cologne in Germany. Though the Indians have never qualified for the Champions Trophy final, they can take heart from the fact that their best showing came in 1982 at Amsterdam, the venue of this year’s edition, when they finished third, ahead of Pakistan, Germany and the erstwhile USSR. The premier six-nation event, which will conclude on August 24, also features Australia, Argentina, Germany, and Pakistan. India will play arch-rivals Pakistan on August 22, while their matches against last year’s runners-up Germany, Australia and Argentina will be held on August 17, 19 and 20 respectively. In the last edition at Cologne, India won two of their five league matches -- against Australia and Pakistan, held Holland 3-3 and lost to Germany and South Korea. In the play-off match, India lost to Pakistan 3-4 to finish at the fourth place. The Indian team, which is currently undergoing training in an Indian Hockey Federation camp in Bangalore, will have one warm-up tournament before the start of the Champions Trophy. They will embark on an 11-day tour of Australia to play a double-leg tournament, also featuring the hosts, an Australia ‘A’ side and Pakistan. The first leg of the tournament, scheduled to be held at Perth, will begin on May 29 while the second leg will be held at Sydney. Champions Trophy schedule: August 16: Pakistan vs Australia, Holland vs India; August 17: Argentina vs Pakistan, Australia vs Holland, India vs Germany; August 18: Germany vs Argentina; Aug 19: India vs Australia, Holland v Pakistan; August 20: Australia vs Germany, Argentina vs India; August 21: Pakistan vs Germany, Holland vs Argentina; August 22: India vs Pakistan; August 23: Argentina vs Australia, Germany vs Holland; August 24: 5th vs 6th, 3rd vs 4th, 1st vs 2nd (Final).
PTI |
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Mauresmo ousts Serena Rome, May 17 Mauresmo’s 1-6 7-5 6-3 victory was stamped by a sharp mid-match turnaround in this key clay-court tuneup for the French Open, which is little more than a week away. Williams, the defending champion in Rome and Paris, was within two points of closing out the match on her serve while up 5-4 in the second set. But a tricky backhand volley miss by Williams gave Mauresmo a break to get back on serve and Mauresmo won three straight games to stretch the match into a third set. After trading breaks early in the final set, Mauresmo broke again to go ahead 5-3 when Williams’ shot was called long on an overrule by the chair umpire. Helped by four errors from Williams, Mauresmo then served out the match. The American had cruised through the first set in just 21 minutes as Mauresmo - the No. 4 seed from France - won just four points in the first five games.
Williams’ only other loss this year came against Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final of a tournament in Charleston, South Carolina last month. She dropped to 26-2 on the season. Mauresmo had never beaten Williams in five previous encounters. World No 1 and defending champion Serena Williams cruised into the semifinals after beating unseeded veteran Conchita Martinez. A comfortable 7-5, 6-2 victory over the 31-year-old former Wimbledon champion yesterday took Williams into the last four.
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Liza completes a double
New Delhi, May 17 Ankita put up a brave performance but it was Mumbai girl Pereira who finally emerged victorious with a 6-4 4-6 6-2 scoreline in a keenly-contested match at the DLTA courts here. Pereira had yesterday teamed up with Isha Lakhani to win the doubles crown. Bhambri started the match in a grand way breaking Liza in the very first game but failed to sustain the pressure on her opponent who bounced back in style effecting two breaks in the first and three more in the final set to win the title after an engrossing two and a half hour battle. The match, which started under scorching sun, gained momentum as it progressed with both the teenagers playing great tennis to draw applause from the crowd. After some early hiccups, Liza took a firm control on the match when she, trailing 1-3 in the first set, played some enthralling shots to level the score before a break in the 10th game gave her the set. Displaying total control, she forced Ankita to the baseline as the latter struggled to come to terms with the stifling heat conditions. With the onset of the evening, Ankita grew in stature and forced her opponent to battle it out for every point. She came perilously close to defeat in the second set itself when Liza broke her serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. But she won the next four games, which included two breaks, to take the summit clash to the decider. More drama unfolded under lights in the final set which saw the Mumbai girl surge ahead, taking advantage of some loss in concentration by Ankita. Liza broke the fourth and sixth games of the set to take a 5-1 lead before Ankita made it 2-5 breaking the next game. But Liza had the last laugh when she broke her exhausted and tired-looking opponent to take the match and the title.
PTI |
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All-Argentine semis line-up Hamburg, May 17 Never before had four players from Argentina ever reached the semifinals at one
tournament. David Nalbandian led the Argentines charge when he rallied from a 1-4 deficit in the third set to beat Fernando Gonzalez 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Guillermo Coria was the second to play and needed less than hour to sweep past Mark Philippoussis 6-2, 6-0. Then came Agustin
Calleri, who beat Wayne Ferreira 7-5, 6-2, and Gaston Gaudio completed the sweep by knocking off Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-1, 6-1.
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IOC seeks details from USOC Madrid, May 17 After the IOC executive board met today with the USOC’s top legal expert Jeff Benz it decided to present a list of questions they wanted answers to. But IOC director general Francois Carrard insisted the executive board was not carrying out an investigation into the dope taking allegations. “To say we were carrying out an investigation would send out the wrong message,” said Carrard. He added that the IOC did not provide for punitive action to be taken against the USOC. Carrard said the idea was to learn from past mistakes in the fight against doping. According to Wade Exum, former director of the USOC’s drug control administration, more than 100 US sports competitors tested positive from 1988 to 2000, and in many of these cases were allowed to continue competing. Carl Lewis, who amassed nine Olympic gold medals in a glittering career, was one of 19 American athletes who allegedly failed a drugs test in the run-up to the 1988 Games in Seoul.
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J&K to host international golf meet Chandigarh, May 17 The decision was taken at the executive committee meeting of the Indian Golf Federation held at the Chandigarh Golf Range here today. Talking to the media after the meeting, IGF President Desh Prem Azad said the first international meet would be conducted at the Royal Spring Golf Course in Srinagar in October. Besides the hosts, India, invitations will be sent to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and other nations for the International Championship. Mr Azad said various state associations had been asked to conduct their state meets before the National Championships. The state units should also conduct the coaching camps. The IGF will provide technical assistance in conducting the state meets and coaching camps. “With a view to keeping the golf activities in full swing the committee has decided to conduct the coaching camps in all age-groups with the modalities being worked out. To provide advance coaching from foreign teachers efforts will be made to rope in the world’s top coaching professionals,” said Mr Azad. Mr J.S. Cheema Chairman of the Hero Honda CGA Golf Academy, who is also Vice-President of the Indian Golf Federation, offered the facilities at the academy for organising coaching camps. It was accepted and approved by the Executive Committee. Another important decision taken was about affiliation of the IGF with the Indian Olympic Association. IGF President Desh Prem Azad, General Secretary Kashmir Singh and Mr J.S. Cheema, Vice-President, were authorised to request the IOA, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India, and the Sports Authority of India, for affiliation. Mr Azad was confident that the IGF would soon get affiliation. The golf calendar was formulated and it was decided to hold nationals in two categories — one for seniors (men and women) and the other for juniors (boys and girls). The gollowing attended the meeting: Mr D.P. Azad, Mr J.S. Cheema and Mr C.S.R. Reddy (Chandigarh Golf Association); Col H.S. Baidwan (retd), Col B.S. Kahlon and Mr Yashvir Mahajan (Punjab Golf Association); Mr Gurbachan Singh, Mr I.B. Singh and Mr Vishal Abrol (Jammu & Kashmir Golf Association); Mr Ajay Vij (Himachal Pradesh Golf Association); Mr R.K. Pachnanda (Border Security Force); Mr H.G.S. Dhaliwal and Mr Sanjeev (Delhi Golf Association); Mr Cyrus J. Irani (Andhra Pradesh Golf Association) and Mr Ajay Gupta (Haryana Golf Association). |
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Frustration for Tiger Woods Gut Kaden (Germany), May 17 The world number one fired a third-round 70 to move to six-under-par 210, but with leader Padraig Harrington starting the afternoon on 13-under Woods has little chance of pulling off his fourth TPC victory in five years. Asked if he could still win, Woods replied: “Probably not, the way things are going. Right now there are too many guys and I’m sure Paddy’s (Harrington) going to play a good, solid, round and will move further away from me.’’ His rivals, though, should remind themselves that Woods trailed world number two Ernie Els by eight strokes going into the 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic final round and still beat the South African in a playoff. Harrington also shared the lead in last week’s Benson and Hedges International Open but faded to record his 19th runner-up finish in seven years. But it was not only Woods’s performance on the fungus infested greens that disappointed him. “I drove it poorly today,’’ he said. “I didn’t get the driver going and consequently I didn’t play the par-fives well. “But again I didn’t make any putts and I just haven’t got anything going this week. It’s to make low scores if you can’t make any putts. “It’s not that I’m hitting poor putts. I’m rolling the ball well. They are starting off on line but don’t quite end up there. I hit a couple of bad ones, but that’s to be expected.’’ Woods was at least pleased with the new Nike golf ball he has designed.
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Envoys of Spain, Argentina winners Srinagar, May 17 In the non-diplomat section, the team comprising Najamus Saqib and Lennort Johamasson won the first prize, while others including Vinod Wazir won the individual prizes. Ten envoys from different countries were among the 50 golfers participated in the championship, organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department to focus on Kashmir tourism. Besides families of envoys, a large number of chief executives of multinational companies and corporate houses from within and outside the country exhibited their talent at the breathtaking 18-hole golf course. The participating Delhi-based envoys included Mr See Chak Mun from Singapore, Mr Jaromir Novotnu from Czech Republic, Haji Abdul Ghaffar Bin Haji Ismail from Brunei, Mr Britos from Argentina, Mr Chirasak Thanesnant from Thailand, Mr Don Rafael Conde from Spain, Mr Mohammad Louafa from Morocco and Mr Enrique Anchordoqui from Uruguay. Envoys were mesmerized by the captivating beauty of the golf course and the valley and were visibly thrilled by playing here. Envoys described the place in different ways. They said they would tell the people back to visit Kashmir and enjoy nature’s bounties. The Spanish envoy Mr Don Rafael Conde lauded the efforts of the organizers. |
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Srinath ‘quits’ 1st-class cricket London, May 17 Srinath, who is in UK as a bowling coach-cum player for English county side Durham, could not be contacted for confirmation of the report in Daily Telegraph which gave no source for it. Srinath, who had a wonderful World Cup in South Africa in February-March returning a haul of 16 wickets at 23.06, may continue to play limited-overs cricket after a break, the paper said. The medium pacer has had a distinguished international career which fetched him 236 wickets in 67 Tests, figures second only to the legendary Kapil Dev among Indian seamers. The 33-year-old Srinath, who also played in 229 one-day internationals (315 wickets at 28.08), had successful stints with English county sides as well. Playing for Gloucestershire in 1995, Srinath took 87 championship wickets at 19.09. Srinath signed up last summer with Leicestershire where he grabbed a hat-trick against Surrey and topped the bowling averages with 30 victims in five games.
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Waugh defends players Sydney, May 17 Waugh told reporters on his arrival home today that while his players had stepped out of line on a couple of occasions, their conduct had generally been good and there was no animosity between the teams. Australia won the four-match Test series 3-1 and the Ricky Ponting-led one-day side play the first of seven internationals later today. “The heat of the moment got to a few players (but) from a playing point of view it was probably the friendliest series I’ve been involved with,’’ Waugh said. “On and off the field the guys had a lot of interaction, talked with each other a great deal and helped each other with cricket.’’ Waugh was told by Australian cricket boss James Sutherland to haul his players into line after a heated onfield row between fast bowler Glenn McGrath and West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan in the fourth and final Test. McGrath later apologised for his actions and Waugh said he hoped people would not judge the tour on that one
incident. Reuters |
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‘Revamp domestic cricket’ Jalandhar, May 17 Talking to reporters here today, Sidhu minced no words in criticising the BCCI for not funding the infrastructural projects during the past 18 years even as the latter was the most richest cricket-controlling authority in the world. “You see, there is need to revamp domestic cricket structure by forming six to eight teams consisting of best players instead of having 26 teams from different regions, as is the case now. It is unfortunate that the BCCI had failed to pay requisite attention to the domestic cricket, which is the only grooming turf for the budding players,” he said, adding that the BCCI should make its functioning more transparent. Holding indifferent attitude of the BCCI responsible for decay of Indian cricket, particularly in Test arena, Sidhu said there was no alternative left but to lay new pitches according to international standards. “It has been seen that our players are found wanting abroad as they used to fell victims on fast tracks. We have to shun the traditional mindset as laying of quality pitches and improvement in facilities being provided to the players here, are the only solution to score victories abroad especially in Test matches,” he said. Regarding resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan, in the light of new initiatives taken by the two neighbouring countries, Sidhu said that as the political relations were about to improve, cricketing ties were inevitable. “In fact, cricket could be a means to bridge the gap between the two countries as it will certainly heel the old wounds, which still exists,” he added. |
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Quickfire 32 n.o. by Sehwag London, May 17 Sehwag, resuming at his overnight 14, had no problems in seeing the ball hurtling out of the gloom and his first scoring shot was an immaculately-timed straight driven four off Martin Bicknell. Bicknell’s next ball was struck powerfully through the covers and after four overs the score had reached 32 for two with all the runs being scored by Sehwag.
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Sports’ ‘most powerful’
man McCormack dead New York, May 17 McCormack (72), the founder, chairman and CEO of IMG, had been in a coma at a New York hospital since his heart attack. He was a pioneer and founder of the sports marketing industry and his IMG company was widely known as the world’s largest representatives for sportsmen and sportswomen. McCormack began in 1960 by striking a deal with golfer Arnold Palmer and, as his business grew, he played a key role in how much athletes were paid and how their images were portrayed. His company has 80 offices in 32 countries and is based in Cleveland, where McCormack established the company. IMG represents athletes ranging from McCormack’s first clients —including golfers Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Olympic ski champion Jean-Claude Killy — to current golfers Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam along with tennis players Pete Sampras and sisters Serena and Venus Williams. The company, which has over 3,000 employees and sells more than 5,000 hours of television programming to over 200 countries around the world, has also represented Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Andre Agassi. McCormack’s reach has stretched much further than the world of sport, however, and he has even handled special projects for global leaders, such as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and the Pope. IMG’s client list has expanded over the years to cover celebrities such as broadcasters, models, classical musicians, authors and newsmakers.
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Haryana grappler clinches title Kochi, May 17 Sunil Kumar of Delhi in the 42 kg class and Narender of Punjab in 58 kg class were the other winners. In the Greco-Roman style (42 kg), Harikrishan (Punjab), Sandeep (Haryana) and Sandeep Pandurag (Maharashtra) won the gold, silver and bronze, respectively. The results: (Greeco-Roman); 50 kg: 1. Laxman Yadav (UP), 2 Sumit (Haryana), 3 Tirlok Ram (Maharashtra). 58 kg: 1 Rambir (Haryana), 2 Vikas Baghath (Orissa), 3 Vikas (Rajasthan). 69 kg: 1 Ajay (Del), 2 Sonu Mann (Goa), 3 Vijaya Gauda (Maha). 85 kg: 1 Jaiveer (Del), 2 Dinesh (Goa), 3 Manjeet (TN). PTI |
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EAST BENGAL TO
HIRE SA TRAINER OLIVER KAHN DAVENPORT PULLS OUT MARATHON MAN |
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