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IHF names 26 probables for Athens Hussain guides England to comfortable win
Streak tells England to
stay away Agassi humbled by French rookie
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Chopra takes title, Jeev 2nd Malleswari eyes Olympic gold India-Pakistan snooker from June 17 Swimming pool rendered useless
Indian wrestlers win
eight medals 2 Punjab girls in Indian
football team Sports Dept staff to hold dharna Amritsar beat Ludhiana Gagandeep shines in swimming meet Dronacharya academy
triumphs
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IHF names 26 probables for Athens Most of the front-line players have been included among the probables, along with some new faces. There are also some surprise omissions from the list earlier announced by the IHF. Mr Gill said the IHF has been trying out various permutations and combinations in recent months to come up with the right combination. “We have been keeping this fact as close to our chest as possible, as some loose ends had to be tied up”, Mr Gill added. Mr Gill said some German experts, headed by penalty corner specialist Oliver Kurtz of Germany, would join the Indian probables in their training stints abroad. The probables will leave for Phoenix to train at Arizona Institute in the USA from June 1 to 21. The IHF chief said the training camp was shifted from Barog to Delhi to complete the visa formalities of the players. He said the intrusive media had been hampering the training schedule of the hockey team, and Barog was no exception. He pointed out that the top foreign teams were training in seclusion with the one-pointed aim of winning the Olympic gold. Mr Gill expressed the optimism that India would strike a medal at Athens. Ever since Astro-turf was introduced after the depleted 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, India have been finishing at seventh to ninth spots. “We have to break that jinx, and we are in a position to do that now”, he asserted. Mr Gill said after the three-week training stint at Arizona, the probables will undergo a short camp in Amsterdam from June 22 to 24, before the commencement of the Rabobank Trophy Four-Nation Tourmanment, featuring Pakistan, hosts Holland and Germany at Amsterdam from June 25 to July 5. The probables would then return home for a brief rest, and the final Olympic squad would be announced in the second week of July. Mr Gill said the last leg of the Olympic preparation would be held at Dusseldorf (Germany) from July 11 to 14 before taking part in a four-nation tournament in the same city, also featuring the UK, hosts Germany and France, from July 16 to 18. The team will continue training in Germany and Europe from July 20 to August 7, before moving to Athens for the final fling from August 7 to 12. The Olympic Games hockey competition will be held from August 13 to 29. In all, the Indian hockey probables will undergo training for 47 days and match competition for 30 days. Mr Gill said Oliver Kurtz was a member of the German Olympic gold winning team at Barcelona in 1992. He was also a member of the German team who lifted the gold in the World Junior Hockey Championship at Ipoh, Malaysia, in 1989. He has represented Germany in 107 international matches, and is currently coaching Venlo, who are among the top three in the Dutch Hockey League. Mr Gill said Kurtz will be assisted by Gerhard Rach, who is an outstanding coach in Germany. The IHF president said the role of the foreign coach would be to formulate strategies after
studying the game plans of other top teams. He said chief coach Rajinder Singh would decide the final XI during matches. He said the name of the second coach, who would assist Rajinder in the Olympic Games, would be announced later.
The probables: Goalkeepers:
Devesh Chauhan, Adrian D’Souza and Kamaldeep Singh. Defenders:
Dilip Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, William Xalco, Sandeep Singh, Jatinder Pal Singh, Harpal Singh and Jugraj Singh. Mid-fielders:
Ignace Tirkey, Bimal Lakra, Vikram Pillay, Viren Rasquinha, Vivek Gupta and Sunil Yadav. Forwards:
Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Arjun Halappa, Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Sandeep Michael, Adam Sinclair, Inderjeet Singh and Hari Prasad. Officials:
Rajinder Singh (chief coach), Harendra Singh (coach), M R Negi (goalkeeping coach), Dr Saju Joseph and Sampath Kumar (trainers). |
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Hussain guides England to comfortable win London, May 24 Hussain scored an unbeaten 103 and Graham Thorpe was not out 51 in England’s 282 for three after opener Andrew Strauss, a late replacement for injured captain Michael Vaughan, was unluckily run out for 83 when Hussain called for an impossible run. Strauss, who scored 112 in the first innings, was on course to become the first England player to score a century in each innings in his debut Test. England were only the third side to reach a victory target in excess of 200 at Lord’s and the win was their fourth in five Tests this year after beating the West Indies 3-0 in the Caribbean. At lunch in a game of constant ebb and flow between two evenly matched sides, England had rallied to 87 for two with opener Marcus Tresothick out for two and Mark Butcher dismissed for six. Daryl Tuffey, who failed to take a wicket in England’s first innings 441, opened with a maiden but then conceded eight runs to Strauss in his second over, straying down the leg side. Scoreboard New Zealand (Ist innings): 386 England (Ist innings): 441 New Zealand (2nd innings): 336 England 2nd innings (overnight 8-0) Trescothick c and b Tuffey 2 Strauss run out 83 Butcher c Fleming b Martin 6 Hussain not out 103 Thorpe not out 51 Extras
(b-7 lb-12 w-5 nb-13) 37 Total (3 wkts, 87 overs) 282 Fall of wickets:
1-18, 2-35, 3-143 Bowling: Oram 15-4-39-0, Tuffey 10-3-32-1, Vettori 25-5-53-0, Martin 18-2-75-1,
Styris 13-5-37-0, Cairns 6-0-27-0.
— Reuters
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Streak tells England to
stay away London, May 23 Streak’s sacking as captain two months ago by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) led to a boycott by 15 white players who have since refused to play for their national side and have been sacked. As a result, Zimbabwe were crushed by Sri Lanka 2-0 in the recent Test series and 5-0 in the one-dayers which, in turn, led to the postponement of the Test series between the home side and Australia which had been due to start in Harare yesterday. England are scheduled to tour Zimbabwe later this year. “If England were to come it would suggest they agree with what is going on in Zimbabwe,” Streak told the BBC.
— AFP |
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Agassi humbled by French rookie
Paris, May 24 That the eight times Grand Slam champion had been seeking his 800th senior career win — and French qualifier Jerome Haehnel his first — counted for nothing under blue Parisian skies. In just a fraction over two hours the American was out of the French Open first round, humbled 4-6, 6-7, 3-6. “There’s really no explanation. I wish I could give you an excuse,’’ sixth seed Agassi said, trying to make sense of it all. World number 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne avoided a similar experience on her return from illness. The Belgian defending champion posted a straight sets win over Sandrine Testud but must be aware the victory had as much to do with her opponent’s lack of fight as her own form. Henin-Hardenne shook off the after-effects of a viral infection to scrape by 6-4, 6-4. “I’m not in the best shape I have been... but I think it is enough,’’ she said. “I was nervous but I was sure that I was going to be nervous.’’ She had no real need to be. Testud, back on tour after giving birth to a daughter last year, looked as though she was on court merely to enjoy herself. “It is a different life for me now playing tennis,’’ she smiled. “I have other things in my life. If I am here today it is because I enjoy playing tennis, not for anything else.’’ If Testud could not muster any disappointment, the anguish Agassi displayed was palpable and the 34-year-old hinted he might not return to the Paris tournament next year. “Listen, that standard is a long way off having any decent chance of winning here,’’ he said. ‘’My performance speaks for itself.’’ Agassi won the French title amid euphoric scenes in 1999, becoming only the fifth man to win all four grand slam titles. He may now be left with just those memories for solace. “Hard to say. I mean you want to come back but you just don’t know,’’ he said, reflecting on the twilight of his career. “I don’t know, next year is a long way away for me right now.’’ Haehnel could barely express his delight. “It’s difficult to say what I feel right now it’s unbelievable,’’ he beamed. Former men’s champion Carlos Moya beat Dutchman John van Lottum 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Moya, seeded fifth this year, won the title in 1998 and reached world number one later in the year. Briton Tim Henman, seeded ninth, had to fight back from two sets down to beat Frenchman Cyril Saulnier 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3, but third seed Guillermo Coria had no troubles. The Argentine thrashed Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-2, 6-0, winning 18 of the last 21 games. Third seed Amelie Mauresmo opened her bid for the title with an efficient 6-3, 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Ludmila Cervanova.
— Reuters
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New Delhi, May 24 At the 100-million-yen Munsingwear Open KSB Cup, the seventh event on the Japanese Tour, Chandigarh-based Jeev shot rounds of 69, 65, 70 and 68 to aggregate 16-under 272 for the tournament. That helped him finish tied for the second place, two shots behind winner Tatsuya Mitsuhashi of Japan. This matched Jeev’s best show on the Japanese Tour, where he finished runner-up earlier in 1999 Kirin Open and 2001 JGTO Championship. At the $ 450,000 Henrico County Open, an event on the second rung tour of the US PGA, Daniel Chopra, who considers himself more Indian than what his Swedish passport suggests having honed his skills at the Delhi Golf Club, was in record-breaking form as he captured his second title in as many starts. Chopra, winner of the First Tee Arkansas Classic last month, shot rounds of 65, 63, 65 and 65 to aggregate an amazing 30-under 258 for the tournament. Apart from inscribing his name on the $ 81,000 winner’s cheque for the four-stroke victory, Chopra also smashed the previous Tour record of four-day tally (26-under) by four strokes. The only other player in the history of the PGA Tour to touch the 30-under barrier in a four-day event is Ernie Els, who shot 31-under in 2003 Mercedes Championship. According to information received here today from Okayama, Japan, Jeev, who has shown welcome signs of returning to form in the last two weeks after struggling for more than a year, opened with a three-under 69, but jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a seven-under 65. On day three, the 32-year-old added a two-under 70, but was overshadowed by a sparkling round of nine-under 63 by Mitsuhashi, who assumed a four-stroke lead over Jeev after the penultimate round. On the final day, Jeev was in the hunt having made five birdies in his first nine holes. However, a three-putt bogey on the 11th stopped his charge and the putts refused to drop after that. He finally finished the day at four-under 68, after missing birdie putts on the 15th, 17th and 18th by a whisker. The finish helped Jeev climb up to 19th on the Money List at 9.17 million yen, and another five million yen would ensure that he keeps his card for the coming season on the Japanese Tour. Chopra, who has a PGA Tour card, was playing the Henrico County Open after he failed to get a spot into the Bank of America Colonial on the PGA Tour. He made the most of it and is now almost certain of keeping his PGA Tour card for 2005. An estimated $ 195,000 would ensure a top-20 finish on the Nationwide Tour, thus earning a PGA Tour exemption. Chopra is currently third on the money list at $ 181,000 . Chopra was outstanding from tee to green and ranked first in driving accuracy, second in greens in regulation, ninth in driving distance and 10th in putting during the tournament. Indian golfers were also present at the $ 400,000 SK Telecom Open, an Asian Tour event in Korea, but did not have the best of finish. — UNI
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Bangalore, May 24 And now the 28-year-old from Andhra Pradesh is undergoing strenuous training at the Sports Authority of India, South Center here, to get into top gear under Belarus Coach Leonid Taranenko. “In the last Olympics, in one lift I missed the gold. My performance was such that I could have won gold there,” Malleswari said here. Malleswari managed a 137-kg lift in clean and jerk but was declared technically faulty by the judges and the Indian had to contend with a bronze. “Somewhere deep within me I wanted to regain what I missed at Sydney. I want to achieve that in this Olympics”, she says, alluding to her return to competitive levels last year after almost a two-year break during which she entered into wedlock and later had a child. “My aim is to go the whole hog to win Olympic gold,” Malleswari said, but admitted that the competition at Athens would be much tougher than Sydney. — PTI
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India-Pakistan snooker from June 17 Chandigarh, May 24 Giving the details of the format, Mr Manoj Kothari, former world billiards champion and the tournament director said the matches would be played over four days with the first day being reserved for a special and unique “peace match”. This would be a doubles match in which there will be one Indian and one Pakistani player in each team. The competitive leg of the tournament would be played on June 18, 19 and 20 in which three tests would be played, one on each day. Each test will comprise of five singles and two double matches. The team that wins two tests will win the Peace Cup. There would be a draw of lots to determine the players for the singles and doubles matches and all matches would be a best-of-three frames affair. The matches will be governed by International Billiards and Snooker Federations rules and regulations. Mr Ajay Rastogi and Mr Simachalam, two of the best referees of India, would officiate in this tournament. The tournament would feature the best in the world of snooker with the Indian team comprising Pankaj Advani, the current world No 1; Alok Kumar, Arjuna Awardee and current national snooker and billiards champion; Yasin Merchant, twice Asian Champion; Rafath Habib, Asian Games gold medallist; and young prodigy Manan Chandra. The delegate-cum-coach will be Michael Ferriera who is also the Indian national coach for cue sports and four-time world champion in billiards. The Pakistani team also has no dearth of talent with big names like Saleh Mohammed, current world No 2; Mohammad Yousuf, former world and Asian snooker champion; Khurram Agha, Pakistan’s top ranked player; and two bright stars Naveen Perwani and Imran Shezad. The Pakistan delegate-cum-coach will be Ali Asghar Valika, who is also the President of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association. A total of Rs 3 lakh in prize money will be up for grabs as the best players of snooker on both sides of the border vie for the coveted trophy. |
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Swimming pool rendered useless Pathankot, May 24 According to Chander Mahajan, swimming coach, the pool has not been used for the last over nine months. This has prevented swimmers from taking part in various swimming competitions. Organisers had no choice but to arrange for the competitions at Amritsar where one such competition was likely to be held next month. The apathy shown by the local municipal authorities concerning the renovation of the swimming pool has resulted in shift in venue of the state swimming championship. Mr Mahajan said due to the indifferent attitude of the municipal authorities, about 40-odd contestants of the district would be deprived of participation in the championship as the contestants had failed to do any practice at the swimming pool for want of renovation. Shikha, a national level swimmer, is frustrated. She had represented Punjab in the national
championships in Pune and Gujarat. She said that she could not do any practice for the last over nine months due to the bad condition of the pool. Mr Suresh Seth and Mr Naresh Wadher, senior councillers, lamented the dilly-delaying tactics of the civic body chief regarding the renovation of the pool. They blamed the civic chief for ignoring the interests of the players of the city. Mr Ashok Sharma, local MLA, alleged that vested interests were responsible for the unattended swimming pool. He admitted that civic affairs were not given appropriate attention. He assured the swimmers that he would visit the site and arrange for the funds for the renovation of the pool. The municipal council chief, Mr Sharvan Kumar, also promised to get the renovation work on the pool started soon.
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Indian wrestlers win
eight medals Chandigarh, May 24 Indian team won three gold, two silver and three bronze medals. Women wrestler Kavita (72 kg) won gold, Nirmala (48 kg) and Jyoti (67 kg) won silver medals and Beant Kaur (44 kg), Meena (51 kg) and Poonam (55 kg) won bronze medals. In free style, Vinod Kumar (50 kg) and Sandeep Dahiya (55 kg) won gold medals. Indian women wrestling team won the second position and the boys team fourth position.
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2 Punjab girls
in Indian football team Ludhiana, May 24 The members of the team are: S Ibeyaima Devi (captain), Blanka Barrera, Sarita, Sarita Jayanti, Tuli Goon, N Naobi Chang, Sharnajit Kaur, W Thambai Devi, Madhurima Naidu, A Roma Devi, Th Ranjita Devi, Lalvarmoi Humar, Sasmita Mullick, Simranjit Kaur, J Shalini, Sudipta Dash, K Sandyarani Devi, Anuu Kumari, Paramit Sit, Ansha and Sapna
Guria. |
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Sports
Dept staff to hold dharna Chandigarh, May 24 There was resentment among staff members over the issue, he said, requesting the minister to reconsider its decision on the shifting of office the new premises. The staff members were of the opinion that the basement could not be used as an office as it had no proper provision for cross ventilation and suitable system for the discharge of water. It has been unanimously decided that the union would hold a dharna from tomorrow after marking their presence.
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Amritsar beat
Ludhiana Amritsar, May 24 Earlier Ludhiana had posted a total of 325 runs. Chasing the target, the host lost seven wickets for 327 in 79.3 overs. For the visitors, Ashish and Deepak scalped two batsmen each. Gurpreet, Rattan and Yogesh claimed one wicket each. |
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Gagandeep
shines in swimming meet Patiala, May 24 Gagandeep was followed by Harshit Naran, while Gagnish Mittal was placed third. Other results:
50m freestyle -men: Abhimanyu Tiwari-1, Vivek Singla-2, Gurpreet Singh-3. 50m butterfly (boys-2): Mayank Batish -1, Manik Mahajan-2, Paramvir Singh-3. 50m backstroke (boys-3): Swatanter Singh-1, Tanvir Walia-2, Jiwanjot Singh-3. 50m breaststroke (girls-4): M.Sidhu-1, Bhavneet Chawla -2, Chahat Gupta-3. 100m breaststroke-men: Jasdeep Singh-1, Rahul Kumar-2, Bhupinder Azad-3. 100m breaststroke-women: Era Kaila-1, Amanjit Kaur-2, Ritu-3. 50m butterfly-men: Harshit Narang-1, Karanvir Singh-2, Bhupinder Azad-3. 50m breaststroke (boys-1) Gagnish Mittal-1, Niku-2, Johnny Bhatia-3. 50m backstroke (boys-2): Manik Mahajan-1, Paramvir Singh-2, Rupinderjit Singh-3. 50m backstroke (girls-2): Gurpreet Kaur-1, Ekta Thind-2, Lovneet Chawla-3. 50m breaststroke (boys-3): Kamaljit Singh-1, Harsimran Singh-2, Navdeep Singh-3. 50m breaststroke (girls-3): Manjit Sidhu-1, Jassi-2, P. Rashia-3.50m backstroke (boys-4): Karan Khosla-1, Tapish Mittal-2, Sahildeep Singh-3. 50m backstroke (girls-4): Noorjit Sidhu-1, Bhavneet Chawla-2, Chahat Gupta-3. 100 backstroke (men): Abhimanyu Tiwari-1, Harshit Narang-2, Mayank Batish-3. 100m backstroke (women): Himani Puri-1, Era Kaila-2, Parshia Rishi-3. 50m backstroke (boys-1): Jagmeet Singh-1, Johnny Bhatia-2, Trilochan Singh-3. 200m freestyle (girls-2): Era Kaila-1, Amanjot Kaur-2, Gurpreet Kaur-3. 50m freestyle (boys-1): Gagandeep Singh-1, Gagnish Mittal-2, Trilochan Singh-3. 100m freestyle (men): Abhimanyu Tiwari-1, Jasdeep Singh-2, Gagandeep Singh-3.
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Dronacharya
academy triumphs Patiala, May 24 Young players had the experience of meeting some big names of Indian cricket. Test cricketer Gursharan Singh who came specially from New Delhi, interacted with the cricketers. Brief scores:
DPCA, Panchkula, 154 all out; (Ankit Sharma 25, Pranav Nanda 26, Karan Goel 15, Ashish Sharma 14, (Sahil 3 for 14, Gagan 1 for 9, Shibhshanker 1 for 22). DCA, Delhi: 155 for 8; (Piyush Khera 48 n.o, Gagandeep Singh 29, Vaibhav 21 n.o, Amit 19, (Ashish Sardana 2 for 18, Anubhav 2 for 38, Sunil 1 for 26). In another league match, Sector 16 Coaching Centre, Chandigarh, defeated DAV, Sector 10, coaching centre, Chandigarh by 7 wickets. Brief scores:
Sector 10 coaching centre: 101 all out; Manan Vohra 19, Ayush 14, Akshit Kumar 15, Saurav 16,(Rozal 2 for 17, Ajay 2 for 19, Akshish 1 for 20). Sector 16 coaching centre: 102 for 3; (Gaurav 29 n.o, Gurinder Singh 40 n.o, (Raja 1 for 12, Jatin 1 for 23).
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Riders selected Nabha, May 24 |
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In video (
New Delhi, May 24
Jugraj Singh’s inclusion has come as a surprise. Though he has been shaping up well following a terrible car crash a few months ago, Mr Gill did not make any firm commitment about his inclusion in the final Olympic squad. The IHF chief, however, expressed his satisfaction at the “tremendous recovery” of the drag-flick exponent. Mr Gill maintained that no player outside the list of 26 named today would be considered for the Olympic selection.
Nineteen-year-old penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh has been well-rewarded for his outstanding performance in the Junior Asia Cup in Pakistan recently, followed by the four-nation tournament in Japan. The young turk from Jalandhar is being reckoned as an amazing prospect in the penalty corner conversion department, borne out of his stellar deeds in the Asia Cup. He scored 16 goals in the Asia Cup, out of which 14 came off penalty corners and two off penalty strokes. He performed well in Japan too, to earn a berth in the Olympic probables’ list.
William Xalco and custodian Adrian D’Souza too have impressed the IHF selectors with their impressive displays in recent months. However, the surge of the junior brigade has knocked out some experienced seniors like Tushar Khandekar, Prabodh Tirkey, Birender Lakra and Girish Pimpale.
Narain triumphs