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Sunday,
August 3, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Smith
slams 259 as SA declare at 682 for 6 Aussies overwhelm Bangladesh Ministry seeks aid from BCCI Jaywant Lele, 2 others expelled Radjabov upsets Anand Kunte wins British chess championship |
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Palwinder Cheema wins gold
Coach suspended on dope charge Patiala, August 2 The suspension of senior athletic-coach and former Olympian Jugraj Singh, by the SAI on dope charges has sent shock waves among the coaching fraternity at the NIS here.
Jeev slips to tied-60th Mahindras ground AI in football Imposing 9-0 win for Surjit Academy Top seed Hong bows out Davenport enters semis
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Smith slams
259 as SA declare at 682 for 6
London, August 2 South Africa declared their score at 682 for six after the tea break, a lead of 509 after bowling England out for 173 on Thursday. Their score surpassed their previous best of 622 for nine declared against Australia at Durban in 1969-70. Boucher swept left-arm spinner Ashley Giles for six on to the top tier of the Grandstand and smashed 12 fours in his 51-ball innings as the Proteas’ relentless domination of this match continued. South Africa captain Graeme Smith’s commanding 259 was the centrepiece of the tourists’ total with four bowlers — Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, Andrew Flintoff and Giles — all conceding over 100 runs. The only disappointment for the Proteas was that Boeta Dippenaar fell eight runs short of what would have been his second Test hundred. He batted patiently before Giles’s defensive over the wicket bowling forced Dippenaar into an error. On 92, trying to hit Giles over the top, he holed out to Mark Butcher at wide mid-off. But Dippenaar 11 not out overnight, was dropped twice, first on 15 by Giles at first slip off paceman Flintoff and then on 36 by Butcher at second slip off Gough. That was England’s fourth dropped catch of an innings although not as big an error as when former captain Nasser Hussain floored an easy cover chance when Smith was on eight Thursday. Boucher was bowled by paceman Anderson shortly before tea leaving Shaun Pollock six not out and Andrew Hall one not out at the break. Earlier Smith’s innings was the second-highest individual score in a Lord’s Test behind Graham Gooch’s 333 for England against India in 1990. Smith, at 22, South Africa’s youngest ever captain, took his tally for the series to 621 from just three innings — equalling Dudley Nourse’s 56-year-old record for the most runs by a South African in a Test series against England. He also surpassed West Indian great Gary Sobers all-time record for runs amassed in three successive Test innings, Sobers having made 599 against Pakistan in the 1957-58 series. Left-hander Smith became only the fourth batsman in history to make double hundreds in successive Tests, after his South African record 277 at Edgbaston. Scoreboard
England (1st innings): 173 South Africa
(1st innings): Smith b Anderson 259 Gibbs b Harmison 49 Kirsten b McGrath 108 Dippenaar
c Butcher b Giles 92 Rudolph c Stewart b Flintoff 26 Boucher b Anderson 68 Pollock not out 10 Hall not out 6 Extras:
(b-25, lb-21, w-5, nb-13) 64 Total: (for 6 wkts
decl, 177 overs) 682 Fall of wickets: 1-133, 2-390,
3-513, 4-580, 5-630, 6-672. Bowling: Gough 28-3-127-0;
Anderson 27-6-90-2; Harmison 22-3-103-1; Flintoff 40-10-115-1; Giles
43-5-142-1; Butcher 6-1-19-0; McGrath 11-0-40-1. — AFP |
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Aussies overwhelm Bangladesh Cairns (Australia), August 2 After routing Bangladesh for 105 in 34 of their allotted 50 overs, Australia smashed their winning runs in 22.3 overs, reaching 107 for the loss of just two wickets at Bundaberg Stadium. A sell-out crowd of 8,308 in the picturesque little ground saw the home country maintain their dominance over the visitors after crushing them by an innings in each of a two-match Test series. The match ended more than two and a half hours early, leaving sections of the crowd unhappy. Some spectators, fearful of a Bangladesh batting failure, booed after Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and sent Bangladesh in. They had hoped the home team would bat first, giving them the opportunity to see the world’s top side display their strokemaking ability for a full 50 overs. The spectators’ concerns were justified as speedsters Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie teamed up to destroy the Bangladesh innings. Lee (4-25) and Gillespie (3-23) had too much pace and guile for the inexperienced tourists, who never threatened to make a competitive score. The Australian batsmen cruised to victory, with only big-hitting left-hander Adam Gilchrist (18) and Ponting (29) falling as the runs were knocked off at a rate of almost five an over. Scoreboard Bangladesh: Hannan Sarkar run out 1 Al-Sahariar c Hayden b Lee 8 Habibul Bashar c
Gilchrist b Lee 0 Alok Kopali b Lee 0 Sanwar Hossain c Gilchrist b Lee 7 Tushar Imran c Ponting
b Gillespie 28 Khaled Mashud lbw b Gillespie 18 Khaled Mahmud not out 25 Mohammad Rafique
c Symonds b Gillespie 3 Hasibul Hossain c Gilchrist b Bichel 6 Mashrafe Mortaza c
Gilchrist b Bichel 0 Extras: (lb-1, w-5, nb-3) 9 Total:
(all out, 34 overs) 105 Fall of wickets: 1-2 2-9 3-14 4-19 5-33 6-66 7-76 8-80 9-105 Bowling:
Gillespie 10-3-23-3 (w-3) Lee 8-1-25-4 (nb-3, w-2) Bichel 5-0-24-2 Hogg 10-0-27-0 Symonds 1-0-5-0 Australia: A.Gilchrist c Hannan Sarkar
b Mashrafe Mortaza 18 M. Hayden not out 46 R. Ponting b Mohammad Rafique 29 D. Martyn not out 0 Extras: (w-6, nb-8) 14 Total: (two wickets) 107 Fall of wickets:
1-29 2-103 Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 7-0-40-1 (nb-2, w-1) Hasibul Hossain 5-0-31-0 (nb-1, w-2) Khaled Mahmud 5.3-0-29-0 (nb-5) Mohammad Rafique 5-2-7-1 (w-3). —
Reuters |
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Ministry
seeks aid from BCCI New Delhi, August 2 Normally, it is the sports federations who pester the government for financial assistance, but when the BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya came calling to Delhi a couple of days ago to meet Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel, it was the BCCI chief who was at the receiving end. Mr Goel is learnt to have requested Mr Dalmiya to part with some of the enormous profits being made by the board for the promotion of other sports events in the country, which have become financial cripples due to the raging craze for cricket in the country, as the major sponsors are willing to be associated only with cricket. It is learnt that Mr Dalmiya did not give any categorical assurance to the minister, but promised to take up the matter with the BCCI Working Committee before taking a final decision. The BCCI may have to eventually accede to the government request, as Mr Dalmiya is very keen to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan, for which the support of the Sports Ministry is a mandatory requirement. The ministry’s reasoning is that since the BCCI is making huge profits, a major chunk of which comes from Doordarshan as telecasting royalty rights, the government was well within its ambit to seek financial help from the BCCI to support not so financially sound disciplines. The government also disburses huge amounts in cash awards every year for which cricketers also become beneficiaries when they are bestowed with the Arjuna and Dronacharya awards. And hence, the government feels justified in seeking financial assistance from the BCCI. Mr Vijay Goel is also learnt to have mooted a proposal to seek the help of public sector undertakings in adopting selected schools all over the country to promote sports at the grass-root level, and also for sponsoring indigenous sports events. In return, the PSUs will be given mileage through DD Sports. |
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Jaywant Lele, 2 others expelled Vadodara, August 2 Pradeep Desai, former joint secretary and former treasurer Ramesh Dalvi were the other expelled officials, BCA secretaries Kiran More and M Samarjeet Gaekwad told reporters here. The charges against the trio include signing long term agreements worth Rs 1.20 crore for three one-day inernationals without BCA managing committee approval, misguiding the committee to purchase illegal property which is actually a parking lot as per records of Vadodara Municipal Corporation and misuse of 800 complementary passes of March 2001 one-day international match against South Africa in the city. Despite asking the trio to appear before a two-man inquiry committee, which probed the various charges of irregularities, the members failed to appear, they said. On the recommendation of the committee comprising Piyush Dhanak and A.V. Indulkar, the BCA managing committee passed a resolution expelling the trio for life from the membership of the association, More added. —
PTI |
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Radjabov upsets Anand
Dortmund, August 2 In another match top seed and world No 2 Vladimir Kramnik of Russia settled for truce against Viktor Bologan of Moldova to remain in joint lead with Bologan tallying 1.5 points out after two rounds. Peter Leko of Hungary also drew his game with local hope Arkadi Naiditsch in a keenly contested game and remained on a 50 per cent score, having drawn the first game with Anand. Radjabov, who beat Garry Kasparov of Russia in the Linares tournament in Spain earlier this year, became the first player to beat both Kasparov and Anand in classicial chess with black pieces in the same year. The chess sensation from Baku showed his tactical brilliance yet again and pounced on his chances just when everyone thought Anand would cruise through with white. Anand, who won the Corus chess tournament this year, showed little signs of improving his record at Dortmund where he finished at the bottom of the pack in his last outing here in 2001. The Indian wizard was in trouble right through, missing out on a number of chances. Anand opened with the king pawn and faced yet another sicilian defence. Radjabov employed the accelerated Sveshnikov that might have come as a big surprise for Anand. In the first round against Leko, Anand had faced the usual Sveshnikov and played out a draw after failing to force a win with white pieces. The middle game was fierce with Anand going for the kill right from the early complexities and had Radjabov in trouble. The game took an exciting course when Anand went for extreme tactics with his 21st move and soon after forced Radjabov to part with his queen. The youngster, however, got compensation with his passed pawns in the centre and a couple of well-aided pieces. Anand missed an excellent tactical sequence of moves favouring Radjabov and in the end the passed pawns marched ahead in devastating fashion and the game was over in 39 moves. “He missed a draw and the 33rd move was a blunder,” said Radjabov after the game adding that Anand probably missed his bishop move that held his position together right till the end. Analysis also showed that Anand might have had Radjabov in big trouble on the 19th turn itself had he opted for a check. Kramnik played it safe with black and had no trouble whatsoever against Bologan who employed a rather off-beat variation against Sveshnikov. The middle game here was in contrast to Anand’s game with no player really able to make any decisive headway. The outcome was almost clear on the 22nd move itself as the positions repeated twice and just five moves later the draw was agreed. Leko faced a determined Naiditsch with black and failed to break the fortress of the local hope. The middle game arose from an anti-marshall system with equal chances for both and Naiditsch curbed Leko’s assault on the king side with timely exchange of queens. The German was saddled with a bad dark coloured bishop thereafter but in the end it helped a great deal in defending his pawns. After the 45th move, Leko decided it was futile to try for a victory. —
PTI |
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Kunte wins British chess championship
Edenburgh, August 2 Kunte, who was in sole lead before the commencement of the final game, tallied 8.5 points in all to finish half a point ahead of compatriot GM P Harikrishna, GM Paul Motwani of Scotland and top seeded GM Vassilios Kotronias of Cyprus, who all tied for second. It was the second successive time that an Indian won the British Championship after International Master R.B. Ramesh won it last year. However, the Indians may not get another opportunity to play here in future as the organisers have taken a decision to bar players from non-British nations from participating in the championship. The title triumph earned a purse of £ 10,000 for Kunte, who did not have any major achievement to his credit since turning a Grandmaster a few years back. Apart from the prize money, he will also add 19 ELO points to his present rating of 2515. The fifth place was jointly shared by women Grandmaster Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan of Georgia, GM Jonathan Rowson of Scotland, Englishmen IM Nicholas Pert and GM Aaron Summerscale and Gallagher all tallying an identical 7.5 points. GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly and IM Tejas Bakre finished in the next group of 8 players on 7 points. The women’s title went to Arakhamia after she drew her last round game against Bangladesh’s Enamul Hossian. WGM S. Vijayalakshmi suffered a setback in the last round when she lost to Abdulla Al-Rakib of Bangladesh in 39 moves. Ironically Vijayalakshmi, a front runner after the 7th round, could secure just a half point in her last four games finishing with 6 points. The last round quite obviuosly took its toll on other Indians who had little to play for. GM Dibyendu Barua, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, IM S Kidambi were among those who drew their games while Neelotpal Das lost his board. Amongst the women, S Meenakshi carved out a fine victory over David Adams of England while Aarthie Ramaswamy, Nisha Mohota and Eesha Karavade were all involved in draws. Playing with black, Kunte had his task cut out as a draw was sufficient for a shared first place in case Harikrishna also won his game against Rowson. The opening was a sicilian schveningen and Gallagher opted for a near-harmless set up much to the surprise of the Indian. In the ensuing middle game, Kunte only had to play precisely while Gallagher tried to attack first his king and then after not succeeding, the queenside. The Indian got sufficient counterplay after risking a pawn as Gallagher’s pieces became relatively inactive. Gallagher had to part with his central pawn in the final position and the heat might have turned on him had he continued for long. Peace was signed after 41 moves. — PTI |
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Palwinder Cheema wins gold Patiala, August 2 According to information received here today by his father, Sukhchain Cheema, Palwinder landed gold in both the freestyle and greco roman categories. Earlier, the Patiala grappler had won the gold in the Manchester Commonwealth Games and followed it with a bronze medal in the Busan Asiad. Cheema also garnered a silver medal in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship which concluded in New Delhi last month. The grappler had also distinguished himself by winning a gold in free style category in the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship which was held in Ontario (Canada) last month. |
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Sunita garners more gold medals New Delhi, August 2 Sunita Rani, who was competing in her first international event since coming clean of doping allegations during last year’s Busan event, won the 800 metre, 10,000m and the 4x400m races, according to information received here today. The middle distance runner, who had won the 1500m gold in Busan, had earlier won the 5000m event. —
PTI |
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Coach suspended
on dope charge Patiala, August 2 Jugraj Singh, who is well known for his tough stand against matters pertaining to dope, was placed under suspension by the SAI Director-General Mr Shekhar Dutt on the pretext that he was involved in providing banned drugs to javelin thrower Avtar Singh. The thrower had returned a positive dope test during the Junior National Athletics Championship held at Shimoga early this year. Interestingly, the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) has taken a diametrically opposite view of the incident and has taken no action against the erring athlete who tested positive for a stimulant. On the contrary. the federation has selected Avtar Singh as a probable in the ongoing senior national camp being held at the NIS here. This action against the coach is the latest in a series of suspensions ordered by SAI in the aftermath of the Hyderabad national games where as many as 32 sportspersons tested positive for dope. What has irked senior NIS coaches is the fact that SAI took this `drastic and unwarranted’ action despite knowing that Jugraj Singh never accompanied the athlete to Shimoga. Moreover, the coach was not attached with the training camp held for the Punjab athletes prior to the Shimoga meet. Avtar Singh had turned out for Punjab in the junior nationals and had won a gold in the javelin throw. SAI bosses saw red only when it was learnt that Avtar Singh used to train at the Patiala based SAI’s Centre of Excellence, where Jugraj Singh is posted. This was enough for the authorities to hand the suspension orders to the coach. Jugraj Singh has represented India as a shot putter in the 1972 Munich Olympics and has also bagged a bronze medal in the 1974 Tehran Asian Games. |
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Jeev slips to tied-60th New Delhi, August 2 Jeev, who had opening two rounds of 66 and 71, slipped right down the leader-board at an aggregate of two-under 314 after a bogey-splattered third round today. The 31-year old Indian, who began his round with a bogey, went on to drop shots on the fourth, sixth and seventh to make the turn at four-over. A birdie on the 10th raised hopes of a revival but bogeys on the 16th and 18th further worsened his position. He was found wanting on the greens where he tallied as many as 33 putts, according to information received here. Overnight leader Taichi Teshima was joined by fellow Japanese golfers Hidehisa Shikata and Tetsuji Hiratsuka in the lead at 15-under 201. —
PTI |
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Mahindras ground AI in football
Kolkata, August 2 Air-India made valiant efforts to match their fancied opponents, but were done in by inept shooting in the fast paced clash between the two Mumbai sides at the Howrah Stadium. James Singh, S Venkatesh and Togo recruit Raphael Patron struck the goals for Mahindra, who would now take on the winners of the last eight clash between East Bengal and Vasco in the semifinal on August 6. Mahindra’s first goal came in the injury time of the entertaining first session, which saw the ball constantly travelling from one end to the other with both sides creating some good moves. Jules Alberto Dias essayed a measured floater from the right and Patron jumped but missed the header. The speedy James Singh, who had sneaked into the box from the left, headed in. James had a good day on the field as other than scoring the goal, he also played a pivotal role behind the other two goals pumped in by his team. The airmen raised their game by a notch in the initial part of the second session, but Mahindra regained control over the proceedings as time wore on. They struck the insurance goal in the 67th minute when James crossed from the right and Patron gave a nice dummy to make Venkatesh free inside the box. The lanky medio, who played for city giants East Bengal last year, kept his cool and put the ball home. Mahindra, coached by Englishman David Booth, further increased the margin eight minutes from time, with James again spearheading a move from the right. The attacking midfielder’s cross went to Patron, who dodged past a defender and pushed in with a smart left footer to the right of a diving Air-India custodian Raju Ekka. With Jules, Venkatesh and Khalid Jamil drumming up a good rhythm in the midfield, Mahindra were definitely the better team in view, who displayed an improved version of soccer after adequate rest as compared to their performance against Haywards Sporting in the previous encounter. —
PTI |
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Imposing 9-0 win for Surjit Academy Jalandhar, August 2 PNB Academy registered a solitary-goal victory over St Soldeirs School, whereas SPD Academy, Patiala scored 3-0 win over Sports School, Jalandhar. In one-sided affair, Surjit Academy easily outclassed Miri Piri Academy 9-0. The winners started the scoring when Inder Pal Singh struck a field goal (1-0). Gurwinder Singh scored a field goal in the 23rd minute to make it 2-0. Consolidating the lead further, Bachitar Singh rounded off a field goal the following minute (3-0). The penalty stroke awarded to the team was used fruitfully by Jagdeep Kumar in the 27th minute to sound the baord 4-0. Consolidating the lead further Gurpreet Singh netted the ball in the 40th minute (5-0). In 47th minute, Gurwinder Singh beautifully dodged the rivals to score a field goal (6-0). One again, Inderpal Singh added two consecutive goals through a penalty stroke and 9 penalty corner during the 52nd and 55th minute, respectively, making it 8-0. Finally, the match ended at 9-0 when Bachitar Singh tactfully scored a field goal. PAP Academy defeated DAV School, Chandigarh 3-0. None of the teams managed to open account during the first half of the game. However, the PAP Academy started scoring in the 37th minute when Sukhjinder Singh tactfully converted a penalty corner 1-0. The PAP Academy finally thrashed the UT lads 3-0 when Sukhjinder Singh netted the ball twice during the 44th and 55th minutes, respectively, scoring hattrick. PNB Academy overcame St Soldiers School through solitary goal win. The first half of the match passed off with out any socre. However, the deceisive goal of the match came in the 53rd minute when PNB Academy’s captain Pramod did not miss the opportunity of converting a penalty corner. In the last match, SPD Academy, Patiala outclassed Sports School, Jalandhar 3-0. |
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Top seed Hong bows out
Birmingham, August 2 The 13th seed, a finalist at the Korean Open last year but not a major name on the circuit, battled from the edge of the precipice to triumph 5-15, 17-14, 15-9. In a minor classic lasting 84 minutes and ending just before 11 p.m. local time, Chen saved four match points before finally yielding. Astoundingly the Chinese, All-England champion last year and currently world ranked number one, had led 13-8 in the second game and then 14-13 when he held match point. But the Korean hung on and after levelling at 1-1, against all the odds, he swept into a 4-0 lead in the decider. Chen, all power and confidence in the first game, became tentative and although he fought back bravely from 5-14, it was only a matter of time before his challenge ended. The result confounded what looked like being largely a Chinese benefit in Saturday’s semifinals. But China will still have two men and three women in their singles. The team had earlier been caught up in controversy over a women’s doubles game which came under the scrutiny of the tournament referee. In the men’s singles semis, Shon now meets Malaysia’s Wong Choong Hann, who beat Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 15-8 15-5. The other semi is an all-Chinese affair, pitting Xia Xuanze, bronze medal winner at the Sydney Olympics, against unseeded Bao Chunlai, Danish Open winner in 2001 but less prominent since. Xia beat second seed Kenneth Jonassen 17-14, 12-15, 15-10 in a 95-minute marathon. The beaten Dane rued: “We have to find a way to beat the Asian players.” Compatriot Camilla Martin, playing in her last world championships, bowed out sadly in the women’s singles quarter-finals, beaten 11-6, 11-0 by her old rival Zhang Ning of China. Martin, the 1999 world champion, found the second seed on top of her form and had no answer. The seventh-seeded Dane, 29, who is to retire after next year’s Olympics, said: “She played really well. I don’t think I did anything wrong but when she plays like that she is almost impossible to beat. I think she will win the tournament. Zhang, Swiss Open winner in February and beaten finalist in last year’s China Open, is the highest seed left in the women’s singles after top seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong lost to fifth seed Zhou Mi of China 11-6, 5-11, 11-4. —
Reuters |
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Davenport enters semis
Carlsbad, August 2 Third seed Henin-Hardenne yesterday crushed unseeded Russian Nadia Petrova 6-0 6-2 in only 55 minutes while Davenport swept past fellow American Chanda Rubin 6-3 6-3. Henin-Hardenne now faces another Russian, 18-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova, who put out fellow countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva 6-2 6-3. “I played solid and she had problems starting off and that gave me a lot of confidence,” Henin-Hardenne told reporters. “I didn’t make many mistakes, I returned well and played good defence. I was so quick and moved really well.” Petrova, who had upset seeds Amanda Coetzer and Daniela Hantuchova en route to the quarter-finals, served poorly, winning only 31 per cent of her first-serve points. “Maybe Nadia had a lot of confidence after her win over Hantuchova and because she gave me a tough match last month,” Henin-Hardenne said. —
Reuters |
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Kashmir clinches golf gold Chandigarh, August 2 Later jubilant Mr Singh said that over 10000 participants from 136 countries had taken part in different sport disciplines in these games. He said in golf he was the lone entrant from India. He is also president of the UP Golf Association, besides heading UP Cue and Snooker Association. |
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Powerlifting teams Patiala, August 2 The team: (men): Vishal Gautam, Ashok Kapoor, Ashok Kumar, Gurmukh Singh, Pardeep Tandon, Rajinder Singh, Rachpal Singh, Harjit Kumar, Harjinder Kumar and Mandeep Singh. (Women): Asha Rani, Narinder Kaur, Neelam Rani, Sunita Rani, Mandeep Kaur and Manjinder Kaur. |
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London, August 2
