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Thursday,
August 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Roddick ousts
Henman; Agassi triumphs
Now Agassi ponders over
his farewell
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Kiwis determined to make impact Missing players:
probe ordered Gopi, 2 others in
second round Indian combination was not at its best
Haryana eves in semis Prizes distributed without finals Faridabad skater selected
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Roddick
ousts Henman; Agassi triumphs New York, August 27 The two American favourites in the year’s final Slam advanced with ease here on the second day of the championship yesterday that also saw Michael Chang retire and Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten ousted after worrying about his safety from an angry spectator. Chang ended his 16-year career by losing 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 to Chile’s 15th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez. Chang had no regrets despite never reaching the top ranking or taking a second Slam after his 1989 French Open title at 17. “If you walk away having regrets and not with a smile, something is not right,” Chang said. “It’s important to walk away feeling good whether you win or you lose.” Fourth seed Roddick, who turns 21 Saturday, stretched his win streak to 13 matches by blasting British number one Henman 6-3, 7-6, (7/2) 6-3. Henman beat Roddick in a Washington ATP semi-final in July, the only stain on a 20-1 run. Agassi, the oldest player here at 33, snapped a three-match losing streak to Corretja by 6-1, 6-2 6-2. Agassi had not beaten him since a 1998 Key Biscayne ATP semifinal. “It was definitely a great day,” Agassi said. “I felt great about the way I played, the way I hit the ball, the way I was moving, the way I played the big points. A lot of crucial points could have made that match closer.” Agassi, who next plays Swede Andreas Vinciguerra, won his first four matches with Corretja but lost at the 1998 ATP Finals as well as in ATP title matches in 1998 at Indianapolis and 2000 at Washington. Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov outlasted three-time French Open champion Kuerten 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 4-6, 7-6 (7/1). Brazil’s “Guga” had security eject a spectator in the tense final set after the man’s taunts turned ugly. Nothing less than a win would have sated Roddick, who has found top form under new coach Brad Gilbert. Agassi’s former mentor advised more variety and that’s just what Roddick gave Henman. On the women’s side, sixth seed Jennifer Capriati beat Spain’s Cristina Torrens Valero 6-0, 6-1 in 35 minutes. “It was a pretty easy match,” Capriati said. “I just wasn’t challenged.” French Open winner Justine Henin-Hardenne, the second seed from Belgium, shook off fatigue and back pain to beat Hungary’s Aniko Kapros 7-5, 6-3. “There’s a burning in my lower back,” she said. “It’s not disturbing me when I’m playing but when I’m on a chair or in the bed it’s a problem. Last night it was very bad. I slept only three or four hours. I was very tired.” Henin-Hardenne has lost in the fourth round here the past three years but is playing well. “I’m feeling much more confident right now and you can see it in my serve,” she said. Japan’s Ai Sugiyama, seeded 11th, breezed past Spain’s Conchita Granados 6-1, 6-0 in 44 minutes while Japan’s 55th-ranked Shinobu Asagoe ousted 10th seed Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 6-4
,6-3. — AFP |
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Chang
quits without regrets
New York, August 27 Despite never reaching the pinnacle of world number one and being unable to capture another Slam title after his 1989 French Open crown at age 17, Chang left the sport with a smile on his face and no regrets. “If you walk away having regrets and not with a smile, something is not right,” Chang said. “It’s important to walk away feeling good whether you win or you lose. “I wouldn’t change a thing. You have your opportunities to win and you take them as best you can. Sometimes you come through, sometimes not. Unfortunately for me, that second Grand Slam never came. “But the Lord blessed me with more than I ever imagined. I can walk away feeling good about it.” Just 18 hours after 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras was given a royal sendoff on the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court, 223rd-ranked Chang made a relatively low-key exit to a standing ovation after a 2-10 farewell season. “Not every athlete gets an ovation like that,” Chang said. “It’s special. You learn people care about me. This year I’ve learned more about how much people care about me than the years I played on tour. “After 16 years, it will be nice to unpack my bags.” Chang defeated Sweden’s Stefan Edberg in a thrilling five-set Roland Garros final 14 years ago to become the youngest men’s Slam champion ever at 17 years and three months. “The French Open brought out a certain characteristic in me that was already there,” he said. “It gave me a tremendous amount of confidence to go into any match knowing I was able to win. You go back to those memories and feed off that energy.” The defining match of Chang’s career was a fourth-round, five-set win over then-number one Ivan Lendl on his way to that title. Cramps forced Chang to serve underhanded at one point in a duel that went four hours and 37 minutes. “That match taught me a lot about life,” Chang said. “As a person and player I have had to fight. Those kinds of matches remind me that to fight and not give up is a great thing.
— AFP
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Now
Agassi ponders over his farewell New York, August 27 “I have to answer that question a lot. ‘Is this still what I want to be doing?’ I ask it every day one way or another,” Agassi said. “Everything I do, I’m always asking if this is where I want to be, what I want to be doing.” “That’s what makes it good.” Eight-time Grand Slam champion Agassi pondered his motivations here yesterday after defeating Spain’s Alex Corretja 6-1 6-2 6-2 in a first-round match that followed Chang’s farewell match, a first-round exit from the hardcourt event. “I feel a strong sense of obligation to this game for everything it has given me,” Agassi said. “I want to give everything I have as long as possible.”
— AFP |
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Rastogi
advances to 3rd round
New Delhi, August 27 The other Indian challenges in the tournament, however, came to an end with all the players making their exit in the second round matches yesterday. S Somdev Dev Verman went down 5-7 5-7 to seventh seed Leonardo Kirche of Brazil while Arun Rajagopalan, a qualifier, lost to Julien Gely of France 1-6, 4-6. In the girls section, Tara Iyer lost 0-6 3-6 to French third seed Tatiana Golovin. Divij Sharan in the boys section, Sania Mirza and Sanaa Bhambri in the girls section had lost in the first round on Monday.
— PTI
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Bangladesh
batsmen frustrate Pak Peshwar, August 27 Bangladesh, without a win in their previous 22 Tests, took control at 240 for two by the close after electing to bat first on a pitch that offered nothing to the bowlers. Omar, who made 85 runs in his debut test against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2001, grinded out 96 unbeaten runs for his side by the end of Wednesday’s one-sided play. He slowed down considerably when he lost Bashar just after tea. Bashar missed out on a back-to-back century against Pakistan when he was declared leg before to Shabbir Ahmed three runs short of his third Test hundred. The right hander, who scored 71 and 108 at Karachi last week in the first Test, faced 167 balls and hit nine fours. Scoreboard Bangladesh (Ist innings): Sarkar c Latif b Gul 6 Omar not out 96 Bashar lbw b Ahmed 97 Ashraful not out 34 Extras
(lb-2 nb-5) 7 Total (for two wickets, 90 overs) 240 Fall of wickets: 1-13 2-180 Bowling:
Shoaib Akhtar 11-1-28-0, Umar Gul 17-2-41-1, Shabbir Ahmed 18-5-61-1, Danish Kaneria 23-7-61-0, Shoaib Malik 12-4-27-0, Mohammad Hafeez 9-4-20-0. —
Reuters |
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Kiwis
determined to make impact
Delhi, August 27 Loose soil on artificial pitches to create uneven bounce, bowlers delivering from 15 metres away, shining lights and sudden noises in the background and clusters of mock fieldsmen in the nets are some of the methods to be used by the team when it assembles for a camp at New Zealand Cricket’s high performance centre in Christchurch next week. These unconventional training methods are aimed at pushing the players out of their comfort zones and gearing them up for the challenges ahead. Interim coach Ashley Ross, to whom the credit goes for devising the training techniques, said he was leaving no stone unturned to prepare the team for the tour of India, where even the formidable Australians led by Steve Waugh could not win a series two years ago. “We are mindful of creating as many stresses as possible so as to help the players adapt to these stresses and in a way
inoculate themselves. “We are trying to tick off every box so that we’re best prepared, and there are no excuses come October 8 (day one of the first Test in Ahmedabad),” he was quoted as saying by a New Zealand website. Ross, who will carry the “caretaker” tag between the departure of Denis Aberhart and the December arrival of John Bracewell, is determined to make an impact during the tour. “New Zealand have toured there seven times and never come away with a series win. (But) I don’t see that as an impediment, I see that as lighting people up,” said the 40-year old Ross. “I would have much greater issues if we were going to a place where we were expected to win,” the coach said. Ross, who was earlier the New Zealand Cricket’s technical advisor as also Aberhart’s deputy, said he was excited about the tour and during his short stint as coach he could not have expected for anything better. “It is the greatest challenge you could have and I couldn’t have asked for a better five months to take the team,” he said. New Zealand’s showing in Sri Lanka in April-May, when it drew the two-Test series 0-0 against Sri Lanka was encouraging for the new coach. “It showed how far our players have moved in terms of their ability to play, and survive in those conditions. Our Asian touring skills are extremely good now.” During their series in India New Zealand will play two Test matches and a triangular one-day series also involving world champions Australia. The Kiwis will be missing the services of main strike bowler Shane Bond, who is recovering from an injury and star all-rounder Chris Cairns, whose wife is expecting the couple’s second child. Cairns, however, has been picked for the one-day leg of the tour.
— PTI |
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Missing
players: probe ordered Sangrur, August 27 On the other hand, Mr Labh Singh, Principal of the Sangrur Public School, today declined to give reply to any query about the missing handball players of his school by saying that the Italy police had stopped him from giving any information to any one. He, however, admitted that the three players were still untraced in Italy as per the Italy police with whom he (Labh Singh) was regularly in touch. Interestingly, Mr Labh Singh even refused to tell the names and addresses of the parents of the three missing students. He even refused to confirm the names of missing students. However, he said he did not know whether the parents of missing students have lodged any complaint with the police about their children. As the school Principal has refused to reveal names and addresses of parents of missing players, the views of the parents over the disappearance of their sons could not be taken. Why the Principal is hiding the information from the reporters is not known. When contacted, Mr Gurkirpal Singh SP (D), Sangrur, said the parents and the school Principal of three missing handball players had not lodged any complaint with the local police so far though they should do the same by way of providing information or filing a complaint in this regard. The SP (D) said he had orderd an inquiry into the incident. He said among other things the inquiry officer would find out when the players had gone to Italy. The Inquiry Officer would also mention in his report why the Principal and parents did not inform the local police in this regard so far and whether any player or student had earlier stayed in any country in the past years. It may be mentioned here that a squad of 35 handball players of the Sangrur Public School, Sangrur, had gone to Italy in the first week of July this year to participate in the International Menia Cup there. They were accompanied by two coaches and school Principal. However, three players in the under-16 age group “ran away” from their rooms. Their whereabouts are still unknown, while all others have returned to India.
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Gopi, 2 others in
second round
New Delhi, August 27 Pullela Gopichand, Abhinn Shyam Gupta and B.R. Meenakhi comfortably reached the round of 32, southpaw Nikhil Kanetkar, national champion Aparna Popat and Trupti Murgunde were made to bite the dust, according to information received here. Gopichand, who had to qualify for the main draw due to his low ranking following a long injury layoff, had no problem in defeating Englishman Aamir Ghaffar 15-8, 15-7 while national champion Gupta got the better of Antti Vitikko of Finland 15-12, 15-9 to move into the second round. But the top ranked Indian player Kanetkar had no answer to the attacking game of the Chinese qualifier Yungyong Wu as he lost in straight games 8-15, 9-15. In the women’s section, Meenakshi kept the Indian hopes alive amidst defeats of her teammates. She thrashed local girl Priyanti Cahyaning 11-4, 11-3 and runs into 4th seed Chen Wang of Hong Kong for the pre-quarterfinal berth. Meanwhile, 33-ranked Popat was outclassed by 88th ranked qualifier Chia Chi Huang of Chinese Taipei, losing the tie in straight games 7-11, 12-13. In the other tie, Murgunde was no match to world number 2 Ruina Gong as she surrendered meekly 6-11, 1-11.
— PTI
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Indian
combination was not at its best The 25th Champions Trophy may have seen a dramatic change
in the fortunes of the Indian hockey team, but there were some players
who excelled with their brilliance and consistency. Goalkeeper Devesh
Chauhan, no doubt, was the best Indian player during the tournament.
He has proved to be one of the finest goalkeepers in the world and
will keep improving. I had spotted Chauhan during the Bangalore junior nationals in 1999. Fortunately I was with IHF president K.P.S. Gill to see the talent of this young boy. From then on, Chauhan has reached this height purely on the basis of his hard work and willingness to learn. This has made him represent the country at the Sydney Olympics, World Cup and the Asian Games at the tender age of 22. It has been an astounding progress for the youngster. Chauhan had conceded a few goals which he could have stopped during the last Champions Trophy in Cologne, but in this edition he was brilliant right through the tournament. He has improved his goalkeeping considerably and is a tower of strength for the team. He will be an asset for the team in the years to come. Jugraj Singh is another player who has improved considerably in recent times and had some good moments during the elite six-nation tournament. He has not only improved his field game, but has also curtailed his rough tackling. He defended the penalty corners with authority. His emergence is good for Indian hockey as many young fans may want to follow this youngster. Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur also excelled in their departments. The Indian team needs more such young players who have the energy, eagerness and the spirit to excel. But overall the Indian combination was not at its best. May be the Indian team did not move smoothly in their passes and the strategy between the deep defenders and midfielders left much to be desired. Though coach Rajinder Singh must have definitely planned his strategy, it was not executed by the players in most of the matches. This may be due to the fact that the other teams put more pressure on the midfield which was the strength of the Indian team. The team thus succumbed to pressure time and again. I thought the performance of young Kanwalpreet Singh, Viren Rasquinha, Bimal Lakra and Ignace Tirkey was extremely disappointing. They all possess excellent qualities but somehow failed to deliver the goods in such an important tournament. If
these players can realise on their own as to why they played so badly,
it will be good for the team. I think there are some issues which need
to be addressed immediately if the hockey authorities want to bring
about an improvement in the standards. Poor Rajinder Singh had no
man-management support during the tournament. All the teams have such
a support system team but sadly the Indians don’t have it. I
suppose we should have a separate coach whose job should be to collect
material on the other team’s strategy and pass them on to the chief
coach. A hockey manager, who will be making the arrangements for team
camps and logistics, a doctor, a physical trainer and a
physiotherapist must accompany the team. The Australians are following
this method for the last ten years and it is a permanent structure. It
is also high time we have a video man who shoots all the matches and
provides the clippings to the coach immediately after the match. The
coach can discuss the lapses with the players. This will help the
players rectify the mistakes. Since the team has a big sponsor in ‘Sahara’,
it should be an easier task for the team to put in place such a
back-up team from this year. I also came across a statement
from an IHF official in Amstelveen hinting at the appointment of a
foreign coach. It was totally ill-timed. When the team is in the
middle of a tournament, such statements undoubtedly put further
pressure on the coach. There is always a better time and place for
talking about such important issues.
— PTI |
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Hockey
player gets lukewarm response Amritsar, August 27 Prabhjot Singh scored four goals in the tournament where India finished fourth. In the last match for the bronze medal, India were defeated by Pakistan 3-4. Talking to this correspondent, Prabhjot Singh said before the start of the tournament their confidence was high. They were able to take a 3-0 lead in the opening match against the Dutch but in the last seven minutes they conceded four goals to finish 4-3. He attributed it to bad luck. He said after the first defeat, they held a meeting and discussed what had gone wrong. At last they decided to start afresh. But they could not break the five-minute jinx. Prabhjot singh, hailing from Masaniya village in Gurdaspur district, said it was not that they did not get opportunities but they failed to convert them. However, he did not agree with the view that the team needed a psychologist. “We won two back-to-back tournaments without a psychologist”, he equipped. He stressed that we should not forget that the team had defeated Pakistan for the first time since 1982 by a margin of 7-4. Expressing confidence in the present team he said, the immediate goal now was to win the Asian Cup scheduled to be played at Kulala Lumpur from September 21. He said if they won this tournament they would automatically qualify for the Olympics next year. |
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Haryana eves in semis
Lucknow, August 27 In the semi-finals to be held on Friday, Indian Universities will take on Punjab while Railways would be pitted against Haryana. In the quarter-finals, Uttar Pradesh girls started with a well-combined effort against Haryana but it was the rivals strategy to hold on their attacks collectively blocking their way towards goal-line in which they succeeded. Haryana got the first chance in the 21st minute through a penalty corner on which Ramneek Kaur’s hit cheered the Haryana camp 1-0. This lead remained intact till the half-time. Demoralised UP team tried hard for an equaliser but their attempts were foiled by rivals whofurther consolidated their position in the 47th minute through a penalty corner conversion by left out Arti Sharma. The third and last goal of Haryana was a beautiful field goal by left-in Kiran Saini in the 61st minute (3-0). After winning the quarter-final, Haryana team members celebrated the victory by hugging each other in the mid-field. Earlier in the first quarter finals of the day, holders Railways outclassed Orissa 10-1. — UNI
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Prizes
distributed without finals Hamirpur, August 27 Mr Sukhvinder Singh Sukhoo, MLA, was the chief guest at the concluding ceremony. Members of the district badminton association led by Mr Devinder Bhardwaj, vice-president and Nitin Sharma, assistant secretary and others in a joint statement here today openly flayed the organisers for arranging the prize distribution ceremony at a time when finals in various categories were yet to be completed. They alleged that those who entered the finals were told that the winners would be decided by the draw of lots. They further alleged that the draws for the tournaments were also done as per the whims of some organisers. The office-bearers warned that if the trend continued, the day would not be far off when game of badminton would vanish from the district. They also alleged that the elections of the district level body were held in a fraudulent manner. When contacted on phone, Mr Sukhoo, the chief guest and President of the association, admitted that prizes were distributed without holding of finals for the three disciplines. He said that since matches were scheduled too late in the night. It was decided to arrange prize distribution function ceremony earlier.
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Faridabad
skater selected Faridabad, August 27 Khusboo (17), who has just completed her plus II from DAV Public School here, is the only skater from Haryana and the entire Northern Zone, to make it to the Indian team. The other members (senior women group) of the team are Priyanka from Andhra Pradesh, Vihangi Nagda of Madhya Pradesh and Iti Gandhi of Gujarat. Khusboo, a bronze medallist in the Ninth Asian Roller Skating Championship, is also a national champion and holds the title of the fastest Indian women skater so far. She has participated in about 15 international tournaments and won several medals. |
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JCT
beat BSF Chandigarh, August 27 BSF managed to reduce the margin two minutes after resumption when B. Singh shot home from close range.
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AZHAR’S
SUIT DISMISSED PUNJAB
FINISH 3RD |
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New York, August 27
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