 |
|
Thursday,
June 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Venus, Davenport in third
round
African, South American champs to clash 15,000 fans greet David Beckham |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Kaif’s knock goes in vain Australia will be ruthless: Gilchrist Ganguly slips to 4th position Feofanova fails to break world mark 3rd gold for Indians Prakash, Sunil enter semis Isha, Amanpreet win
|
|
Venus, Davenport in third
round London, June 25 Her exquisite cross-court passing shots brought gasps of admiration from the Centre Court crowd, but Williams’ patchy service often let her down in the difficult swirling conditions. Williams, a notoriously slow starter, level-pegged to 3-3 in the first set but then effortlessly stepped up a gear to break Srebotnik’s service. The Slovenian’s resistance crumbled in the second set and it took Williams just over an hour to ease through to a smooth victory. Fifth seed Lindsay Davenport eased into the third round of Wimbledon
today overcoming spirited Italian Rita Grande 6-3 6-1. Thai 12th seed Paradorn Srichaphan saved two match points as he stormed back from two sets down to beat Frenchman Olivier Mutis 4-6, 1-6, 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the second round at Wimbledon. Paradorn, who beat Andre Agassi on his way to the third round last year, produced a shambolic display in the first two sets against an opponent playing only his second match at the All England Club. Swiss fourth seed Roger Federer lived up to his status as one of the tournament favourites by reaching the third round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 win over 71st-ranked Austrian Stefan Koubek. The 21-year-old from Basel lived up to his nickname as the Federer Express in bludgeoning Koubek in 1hr 16min after first saving a set point in a tight opening set. He next meets Mardy Fish, who blasted fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. Koubek found his feet the quickest against Federer, who found himself 5-2 down before hauling himself back to take the set with a run of five straight games after the Austrian had squandered a set point in driving long. Intermittent rain saw the covers brought on at the start of the third set - but thereafter Federer quickly finished the job. Federer has been touted as a future champion since upsetting Pete Sampras, then the defending champion, in a fourth-round match two years ago. But he then crashed to Tim Henman and last year exited in the opening round to Croatia’s Mario Ancic. Spanish teen star Rafael Nadal, who says his game is not as suited to grass as clay, did his best to disprove that theory by blitzing Britain’s 487th-ranked Lee Childs 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in a match interrupted by rain at a point where Childs was enjoying a second-set purple patch. “The rain came at a good moment. It was a bit hot and at that moment I wasn’t hitting the bell that well,” said Nadal. Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten slumped out with US veteran Todd Martin blasting the Brazilian 17th seed 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 6-4 Martin next goes toe to toe with Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler, the German ninth seed, who ousted unseeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. Lars Burgsmuller was a second German advancing - but in his case to the second round - after completing four-set win over Spain’s Albert Montanes. That match had been held over from yesterday for bad light. Burgsmuller’s reward is a match against second seed Andre Agassi. Early winners in the women’s event were Argentina’s Paola Suarez, who moved past Bulgarian 12th seed Magdalena Maleeva 2-6 6-2 6-3 to set up a meeting with Slovenia’s Maja Matevzic, who ousted 24th seed Magui Serna of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Uzbek Iroda Tulyaganova saw off Hungary’s Petra Mandula 6-3, 6-4. —
AFP |
|
African, South American champs to clash in semis
Lyon, June 25 And the African champions will have to rely even more on their defence in today’s match now that striker Samuel Eto’o has left the team before the semifinal to return to Real Mallorca for the team’s Spanish Cup final. Cameroon’s march to the semifinal has been highlighted by the spectacular winner fired by Eto’o against Brazil, yet it’s the uncompromising defence that has gotten the Indomitable Lions in to the last four. Cameroon’s only other goal came off a disputed penalty in injury time against Turkey. Against the USA, with qualification already sure, Cameroon didn’t try too hard and it didn’t score a goal. With exciting fresh players, the four-time African champion had discovered tactical discipline under their German coach Winfried Schaefer, who has harnessed tremendous talent into a well-functioning unit. “We came here to show people that Cameroon still had qualities. We are doing that,” said Manchester City midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe, one of the older Lions at 28. “This team wants to build something solid. We learned from past mistakes. Now we seek to impose our game,” he said. Schaefer brought younger players into the squad following the no-shows of several veterans, such as striker Patrick Mboma, midfielder Lauren Etame Mayer and defender Raymond Kalla. “Once we got into the competition, we were not going to stop,” said captain and central defender Rigobert Song. “We are getting along fine, we complement each other and the young ones are learning fast.” The eight-nation tournament has been a much-needed tonic for the wounded pride of the Indomitable Lions, the reigning Olympic champions who were knocked out last year’s World Cup after the opening round following an epic five-day journey to Asia and financial disputes. The last time Cameroon played Colombia was at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, when Roger Milla scored in extra time for a 2-1 victory and a historic first quarterfinal place for an African team. Cameroon’s memorable run at that tournament also included an opening victory over defending champions Argentina and sparked the surge of African soccer. Cameroon, however, never has been past the first round of a World Cup again, despite dominating African championships. Many Cameroon players remember watching the 1990 tournament and Milla’s goal against Colombia as kids. “Actually, Cameroon is a team we wanted to meet here,” Colombia captain Ivan Cordoba said. “This is our chance to get revenge for the loss in Italy.” “We are aiming to reach the big final,” said the Inter Milan defender, who returns after a one-match suspension. Colombia, the South American champion, snapped its 13-month scoring drought at this tournament with a 3-1 win over hapless New Zealand. But two of those goals came after the Kiwis had been reduced to 10 men and the 1-0 win over Japan came off a massive defensive blunder. Two of Colombia’s four goals have come from Giovanni Harnandez, the Deportivo Cali playmaker. “Cameroon is a team that sits back in defence and the counterattacks,” Hernandez said. “We’ll be facing a team of great physical strength, with a great soccer history. We need to use our slick passing game. That’s the way for us to get to a goal.” Francisco Maturana’s team is hungry for success at the Confederations Cup, to help it put behind the disappointment of failing to qualify for last year’s World Cup. In the other semifinal, France plays Turkey at Saint-Denis. — AP
|
|
15,000 fans greet David Beckham
Ho Chi Minh City, June 25 The England captain, on the fourth leg of his sponsored Asian tour, sent the crowd wild at the city’s No 7 stadium, as he showered the net with his trademark free kicks and went through his book of tricks. “I’m overwhelmed by the welcome and it is a great pleasure to be here in this city,” the pony-tailed Beckham told his screaming fans after greeting them in Vietnamese. Serenaded by dancing girls and local popstars, the former Manchester United star, dressed in grey and red, took to the pitch like a gladiator in a heavily guarded arena, every goal greeted by cheers, every miss met with loud sighs. “I love him, I love him. He is such a fantastic player,” shouted 20-year-old student Nguyen Cao Cuong as he jumped up and down in the packed, sweltering terraces. Beckham’s presence in a country where western idols are still viewed with a certain amount of suspicion by the Communist regime has generated a level of excitement comparable only with the November 2000 US presidential visit by Bill Clinton. The 28-year-old midfielder arrived in Vietnam’s southern business capital last evening by private jet after performing at a similar exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. His other previous stops included Japan and Thailand. He was due to fly to Bangkok later today from Ho Chi Minh City. Beckham was not accompanied by his popstar wife Victoria. The former Spice Girl elected to stay in the Thai capital. Football’s glamour boy is reputed to be receiving an estimated one million pounds (1.66 million US dollars) from his promotional swing, according to British media reports. His off-season tour has been given extra attention after his transfer last week from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a deal worth up to 35 million euros (41.25 million dollars). However, due to the intense media interest in the transfer, Beckham’s agents have banned all foreign reporters from his press conferences and photo events. Decoy cars, sneaky exits via hotel backdoors and tight security have characterised his Vietnam leg, leaving the British tabloid reporters following his trail with gloomy faces. Vietnamese journalists were also issued with guidelines of what they could not ask him by the public relations firm handling the visit. Among the prohibited topics were his relationship with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, his wife’s career, and how much he was being paid for his Asian tour. Local reporters, instead, were encouraged to ask him about his World Cup experience last year and his thoughts on Asian football. Asked in the stadium ceremony who his idols were, Beckham said: “My idol is my wife and my two children. Obviously it is my wife because she is the mother of my two children. On the professional side my football idol has always been Bryan Robson.”
— AFP |
|
Lara dazzles in drawn Test
Gros Islet, June 25 Skipper Lara, who crossed the 200-mark for the fifth time in 95 Tests, helped the hosts post 477-9 declared in their first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s 354. The tourists were 126 for no loss in their pressure-free second innings at stumps, with Sanath Jayasuriya (72) and Marvan Atapattu (50) putting on the first century stand for the opening wicket against the West Indies. Jayasuriya, struggling to regain form, also became the third Sri Lankan to complete 5,000 Test runs after Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga. The 34-year-old Lara, who amassed 688 in his last three away Tests against the same opponents two years ago, continued to relish the Sri Lankan bowling with a wide range of attacking strokes. He smashed one six and 24 fours in his 21st Test hundred, the fifth in as many matches against Sri Lanka. The hosts scored 205 in two sessions after resuming at 272-4, with Lara alone contributing 116. Key Sri Lanka bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas struggled to contain Lara, who scored as and when he pleased during his 360-ball innings before being caught behind off an attempted pull. (Scoreboard) West Indies (1st innings:) Gayle lbw b Muralitharan 27 Ganga lbw b Vaas 12 Hinds run out 113 Lara c Kaluwitharana
Sarwan c Atapattu
Samuels st Kaluwitharana
Jacobs lbw b Muralitharan 13 Banks not out 50 Dillon c Atapattu b
Collymore c and
Taylor not out 9 Extras (b4, lb4, nb17, w2) 27 Total:
(138.3 overs; for nine wickets
decl) 477 Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-66, 3-240, 4-262, 5-279, 6-30, 7-441, 8-447, 9-448. Bowling:
Vaas 39-5-116-1, Nissanka 21.3-1-108-1, Samar weera 8-0-53-0, Muralitharan 50-10-138-5, Lokuarachchi 20-6-54-1. Sri Lanka (2nd innings) Atapattu not out 50 Jayasuriya not out 72 Extras
(b1, lb2, nb1) 4 Total (for no loss; 34 overs) 126 Bowling:
Dillon 5-1-24-0, Collymore 3-0-8-0, Hinds 4-0-25-0, Taylor 6-1-19-0, Banks 10-0-28-0, Samuels 3-1-15-0, Sarwan 3-0-4-0.
— AFP |
|
|
Kaif’s knock goes in vain
London, June 25 With two points from this victory, Leicestershire earned a place in the final to be played next month. The winners will get 42,000 pounds. Leicestershire, after winning the toss, scored 171 for eight wickets in 20 overs with India’s dashing opening batsman Virender Sehwag contributing 15. B.J. Hodge was the highest run-maker with 37 while D.I. Stevens made 28 and P.A. Nixon 27. In reply, Kaif who struck 53 from 40 balls, set up a thrilling finish. But for a controversial dismissal of Steve Selwood with 11 balls remaining to score 19 runs, Derbyshire might have achieved the target. Selwood was caught by Brad Hodge at long on, but Derbyshire players, who were sitting a few yards away, claimed that the ball had been carried over the boundary in the process. Roy Palmer, the umpire, however upheld the word of Hodge and Derbyshire ultimately fell just one run short of the 14 runs required from the last over from Phillip DeFreitas. With six needed from the last ball, Neil Gunter could only score a four. Within minutes, however, Derbyshire had asked the England and Wales Cricket Board for a reversal, suggesting that footage from television cameras at the ground might confirm their view. At Headingley, Yuvraj Singh was lucky. Though he made just nine runs, his side Yorkshire beat Nottingham by 18 runs. — PTI
|
|
Australia
will be ruthless: Gilchrist Sydney, June 25 “People will look at the series and say that it’s going to be write-off, that we are going to go out there and not only win but smash them,” Gilchrist said today. “Hopefully, if we play well, we will achieve that because that will mean we are still playing to our level. “Win, lose or draw, it will be a lesson for them, a step forward for them to play against what is perceived to be the best team in the world.”
— Reuters
|
|
|
ECB’s no to Peace Cup match New Delhi, June 25 “The ECB was approached for permission to stage the Peace Cup match but they refused permission, [and] as such the question of the Pakistan or Indian boards giving its consent for the project never arose,” the News International quoted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief executive Rameez Raja as saying.
— IANSC |
|
Ganguly slips to 4th position
Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan), June 25 It turned out to be a disappointing day for the Indian boys as not only Ganguly slipped to joint fourth position after his loss but other in-form players, International Master P. Magesh Chandran and national junior champion Abhijit Gupta, also lost their games against Kritz Leonid of Germany and Sergei Azarov of Belarus, respectively. Grandmaster P. Harikrishna, who suffered a rather uncharacteristic loss to Abhijit in the second round, scored his second successive victory and moved to 2.5 points, half a point behind Ganguly. Marcin Dziuba of Poland, Leonid and Guseinov, all with 3.5 points apiece, shared the lead while a pack of eight players, including Ganguly followed them on 3 points each. Magesh Chandran and Hari Krishna were in the next lot comprising nine players. Abhijit, national sub junior champion S. Arun Prasad and Asian junior champion Deepan Chakravarthy have two points each. In the girls championship being played simultaneously, country’s youngest Women International Master Dronavalli Harika gave yet another emphatic display of her growing positional acumen but missed out on a victory and settled for truce with compatriot Asian junior girls’ champion Tania Sachdev. Harika lost her joint lead after the deadlock and is now in joint third position along with Shahna Agaeva of Azerbaijan, having amassed 2.5 points from three rounds played in this section so far. Top seed Georgian Nana Dzagnidze, who defeated Zeinab Mamedjarova of Azerbaijan and Romanian Cristina Calotescu, who had a smooth sailing over Maria Sergeeva of Kazakhstan, shared the lead in the girls’ section with an absolute score of 3 points. Ganguly was unlucky in blowing up a level position against Guseinov. It was a Sicilian defence where the Indian played black and neutralised after tackling some tricks effectively. — PTI
|
|
|
Feofanova
fails to break world mark Trikala, Greece, June 25 But she convincingly won her event with a 4.70 clearance, beating her arch-rival and world record holder Stacy Dragila of the USA who managed only joint fifth on 4.50. World indoor silver medallist Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia was second with 4.60. Olympic gold medallist Kostas Kenderis, running his first race in Greece since winning last year’s European championship, was made to work hard for his victory in the 200 metres.
— Reuters |
|
3rd gold for Indians
New Delhi, June 25 India also won a silver and a bronze in aquatics event on the third day of competition today. Nitin Handigund, a 19-year-old swimmer from Karnataka, won the silver in 50m backstroke clocking 1 minute 5.77 sec while Vidhya N. Kanthinathi from Tamil Nadu settled for the bronze with an effort of 2min 1.06sec, according to information received here. India, who won a silver in aquatics yesterday, now boast of a total 12 medals from various disciplines including cycling and bocce. The Games do not have upper age-limit which gave a chance to athletes from 17 to 65 years of age to participate in as many as 26 disciplines.
— PTI
|
|
|
Prakash, Sunil enter semis New Delhi, June 25 In the other quarter-finals, sixth-seeded Widhiyanto Febi of Indonesia downed Yu Hiu Tung of Hong Kong 6-3, 6-0 while Yew-Ming Si of Malaysia got the better of Eliran Dooyev of Israel 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to sail into the last four. Sunil Kumar, after his rather disappointing performances in the three legs of the ITF circuit preceding the Masters, seems to be gaining in confidence with every outing, at least in the Masters, as he was totally in control of his game and made light of the challenge posed by Hayato to post a comfortable victory. His powerful ground strokes, delectable passing shots and searing back-hand returns broke through the defence of Hayato to earn him crucial points. Operating mostly from the baseline, Sunil Kumar’s surefooted game unsettled the Japanese who had no clue as to how to counter his opponent’s tactics. But Sunil Kumar’s mettle will be fully tested when he runs into Prakash Amritraj in the semi-final tomorrow morning. Prakash Amritraj once again moved up the ladder without working up a sweat as his opponent Vinod Sridhar reported sick, and gave a walk-over to the US-based Prakash. Prakash has already created a formidable reputation after he annexed the singles titles in the second and third legs. His redoubtable all-court craft seems to scare away his opponents even before a ball is hit, and Vinod Sridhar was the latest victim. Prakash, who along with cousin Stephan Amritraj, had lifted the doubles title in the third leg, however, crashed out of the doubles in the Masters. Prakash and Stephen put up a good fight, but the Ratiwantna brothers displayed resilience and fighting spirits to coast home to a 6-4, 7-6 (10-7) victory. Vijay Kannan and Saurav Panja beat Rohan Gajjar and Saurav Kohli 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 to ensure an Indian presence in the doubles final. |
|
|
Isha, Amanpreet win Chandigarh, June 25 Results:
Girls Under 14 (First Round): Taruka Srivastava (UP) b Ikroop Sandhwalia (Pb) 6-0, 6-0; Garima Sonkar (UP) b Noor Paul (Chd) 6-3, 6-3; Ramneek Rihal (Chd) bt Jaanesh M. Kaur (Chd) 6-1, 6-3; Manya Nagpal (Dli) b Aanchal Rai Sahib (Chd) 6-2, 6-1; Ankita Singh (Chd) b Pallak Grewal (Chd) 6-1, 6-2; Roop Saran Rihal (Chd) b Poorna Singh (Chd) 6-1, 6-1; Navjot Saini (PB) b Shradha Singh (Chd) 6-0, 6-1; Aarushi Sharma (Dli) b Mehak Thakur (Chd) 6-4, 7-5. Boys Under 14 (First Round): Vijayant Malik (Chd) b Parul Verma (Chd) 6-3, 6-3; Gurmohit Singh (Chd) b Aman Farmaha (Dli) 2-6, 6-0, 6-0; Amit Chauhan (Chd) b Rithwik Sunkara (Dli) 6-3, 6-1; Vinish Nair b Rahul Jain (Dli) 6-2, 6-4; Akshat Joshi (Chd) b Navdeep S. Uppal (Chd) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; Pulkit Mishra (Dli) b Ashwini Kumar (Chd) 6-2, 6-1; Deepinder Singh (Chd) b Shikar Kapoor (Dli) 7-5, 6-2; Manav Dhawan (Pb) b Dhruv Guruwara (Dli) 6-4, 6-3; Lakshit Sood (UP) b Samarpit Rai (Pb) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Shantanu Rajput (Dli) b Anant V. Puri (Chd) 6-0, 6-4; Kush Jagga (Dli) b Arjun Sehgal (Pb) 6-4, 6-1; Keshav Mahajan (Pb) b Vikas Chauhan (Har) 6-1, 6-3; Subhash Chander Rao (Dli) b Chandril Sood (UP) 6-3, 6-4; Varun Anand (UP) b Vidhan Vyas (Dli) 6-0, 6-0; Mandeep Yadav (Chd) b Karan Singh (Pb) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Navinder Pal Singh (Chd) b Bharat Bhardwaj (UP) 6-1, 6-1. Girls Under 18 (First Round): Amanpreet Kaur (Chd) b Taruka Srivastva (UP) 6-3, 6-2; Ujala Joshi (Chd) b Qudrat Paul (Chd) 6-2, 6-1; Isha Toor (Chd) b Bahar Paul (Chd) 6-1, 6-3; Rishika Sonkar (Dli) b Noor Paul (Chd) 6-3, 6-2; Shradha Singh b Preeti Datar (Dli) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Alisha Talwar (Pb) b Sonia Sharma (Chd) 6-1, 6-1; Tanya Kapoor b Sukhpreet Cheema (Chd) 6-0, 6-1; Anushka Kapoor (Dli) b Gazal Verma (Chd) 6-0, 3-0 (retd.); Alipt Sandhu (Chd) b Ramneek Rihal (Chd) 6-2, 6-4; Ankita Singh (Chd) b Renuka Keswani (Dli) 7-6(3), 6-2; Navjot Saini (Pb) b Rakshita Singh (Chd) 6-1, 6-0. Boys Under 18 (Second Round):
Jitin Bishnoi (Har) b Parvesh Kumar Azad (Pb) 6-1, 6-2. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Ho Chi Minh City, June 25
