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Ganguly to lead Asia XI against ICC XI
South African batsman Jacques Kallis celebrates
after scoring a century against England on day two of the third Test in Cape
Town on Monday. — Reuters
photo
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Cricket fans to victims’ rescue
Balkrishan Singh cremated
Parminder Sr announces retirement
Punjab 193 for 6 against Himachal
WFI forms panel to pick probables
Sasikiran makes winning start
Prakash, Schuettler crash out
Harsh through to main draw
Good that Chennai Open is on: Paradon
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Ganguly to lead Asia XI against ICC XI
Kolkata, January 3 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jagmohan Dalmiya said here today that Kiran More, Asantha Demel, Farooq Ahmad and Wasim Bari, respectively, the chairmen of the selectors of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, today chose the Asia XI. The team: Sourav Ganguly (India-captain), Sanath Jaisuriya (Sri Lanka), Virender Sehwag (India), Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka), Sachin Tendulkar
(India), Rahul Dravid (India), Yousuf Youhana (Pakistan), Alok Kapali (Bangladesh), Kumara Sangakara (Sri Lanka), Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Sohaib Akhtar (Pakistan), Zaheer Khan (India), Anil Kumble (India), Muthiah Murlitharan (Sri
Lanka). Mr Dalmiya said that though the other three national selectors were present at the meeting, Wasim Bari could not come on time and was hooked on a teleconference. He said that the selectors faced certain constraints in selecting the team because of injuries to some of the key players like Sachin Tendulkar and Irfan Pathan from India and Inzaman-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzak and Mohammad Sami of Pakistan besides Bangladesh’s engagement with Zimbabwe for a Test match around the January 10 date for the match, rendering most of their players unavailable. Mr Dalmiya said: “Sachin Tendulkar, who is undergoing a rehab and is strictly forbidden to bat for the next weeks, expressed his eagerness to be a part of the team for the match that was being played for such a noble cause. His request has been favourably considered by the selectors and he was included in the team. If
necessary, he would field and bowl.” He said the support staff of Pakistan cricket team currently touring Australia has been requested to take over Asia XI. Bob Woolmer would be the coach of Asia XI while Syed Ashraful Huq, the CEO of ACC, would be the manager. The playing eleven would be selected by the captain and the coach of Asia XI. He also said that it would be day-night match in Melbourne and the ACC has requested the ICC to grant it an ODI status. He was hopeful that ICC President Eshan Mani and CEO Malcom Speed would look into the matter favourably. Lara given all-clear
Melbourne: West Indies captain Brian Lara was today given the official all-clear to play for the Rest of the World against an Asian XI in a tsunami relief cricket match here on January 10. Lara, along with team-mates Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, was given the go-ahead by team management which was originally hesitant to let all three play because of the potential injury risk on the squad of 14 players. The West Indians are here to play in a triangular one-day series against Australia and Pakistan in January and February. But a West Indies team spokesman said today coach Bennett King and manager Tony Howard had agreed to batsmen Lara and Gayle and allrounder Bravo playing in the Melbourne Cricket Ground charity match. Lara will join Australians Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden among others in the world team, chosen by former Australian captain Steve Waugh and New Zealand Test great Richard Hadlee. The West Indies are likely to take a full-strength side into their first warm-up match, a day-night game against Victoria at the MCG on Wednesday.
— AFP |
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Ponting hammers unbeaten 155
Sydney, January 3 The 30-year-old right-hander erased the memory of an unproductive last 12 months to compile his 21st century, and first since his 257 against India in the 2003 Boxing Day Test, against a threadbare bowling attack on an easy SCG batting strip. Ponting, anxious to begin the new year on an upswing after scoring 697 runs in 2004 at 41.00 at the lower-rung of Australia’s top six batsmen, blazed an unbeaten 155 in 325 minutes with 23 boundaries. At the close of the second day, Australia were 340 for four with Adam Gilchrist on 17 to lead Pakistan by 36 runs with six wickets in hand. With three days’ play remaining in Australia’s final domestic Test of the summer, a third straight win over the injury-hit tourists is in the offing. Australia are playing in a dead rubber Test after clinching the series with a massive 491-run win in the first Perth Test and a nine-wicket triumph in the Melbourne Boxing Day Test. Ponting put on 174 runs for the third wicket with Damien Martyn, who missed out on emulating a Don Bradman scoring feat. Martyn, coming off a stellar last year of six centuries and 1,353 runs at 56.37, was shooting for his third hundred in consecutive Test innings after scores of 100 not out in Perth and 142 in Melbourne. But Martyn was stumped for 67 off leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, preventing him from becoming the first Australian batsman since Bradman in 1948 to score three consecutive centuries. Michael Clarke, playing in his first home ground Test, appeared set before he threw away his wicket when he was also stumped off Kaneria for 35 off 50 balls. Pakistan had to do without ‘Rawalpindi Express’ Shoaib Akhtar, who was off the field for 75 minutes during the middle session with what appeared to be a strained right hamstring. He returned to the attack with 13 overs left in the day and Australia at 288 for three and poised to overtake Pakistan’s innings total. In his absence, Kaneria shouldered the inexperienced Pakistan bowling attack with Test debutant Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved-ul-Hassan, playing just his second Test match, and one-day specialist Shahid Afridi. Kaneria finished the day with 3-106 off 30 overs. Australia lost both openers before lunch after the Pakistanis had added 12 runs to their overnight total of 292 for nine to be all out after 4.4 overs of the morning session with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal last man out for 47. Justin Langer was bowled by a beautiful inswinger from Rana for 13 in the fourth over of the Australian innings. Rana got his third delivery to nip back sharply and rattle Langer’s middle and off-stumps with the first wicket falling at 26. Matthew Hayden had a life on 26 when Asif dropped a sharp caught-and-bowled chance but went soon after without addition to a horrible swipe at Kaneria with Australia on 83 for two. Kamran was Pakistan’s last wicket to fall caught at first slip by Shane Warne off Glenn McGrath in the morning. Kamran hit eight fours off 68 balls in his 83-minute stay while tailender Asif remained not out on 0 off 24 balls. McGrath finished the innings with 4-50 off 16.4 overs while recalled leg-spinner Stuart MacGill had the best return of 5-87 off 22 overs. Scoreboard Pakistan (Ist innings) Butt c Gilchrist b McGrath 108 Hameed c Clarke Warne 58 Younis c McGrath b MacGill 46 Youhana c Warne b MacGill 8 Kamal c Gillespie b MacGill 10 Afridi c McGrath b MacGill 12 Akmal c Warne b McGrath 47 Hassan lbw b McGrath 0 Shoaib b McGrath 0 Kaneira c Gilchrist b MacGill 3 Asif not out 0 Extras:
(b-6, lb-2, w-1, nb-3) 12 Total: (all out, 86.4 overs) 304 Fall of wickets:
1-102, 2-193, 3-209, 4-241, 5-241, 6-261, 7-261, 8-261, 9-280, 10-304. Bowling:
McGrath 16.4-5-50-4, Gillespie 14-3-47-0, Watson 10-3-28-0, Warne 24-4-84-1, MacGill 22-4-87-5. Australia (Ist innings) Langer B Rana 13 Hayden b Kaneria 26 Ponting batting 155 Martyn st Kamran b Kaneria 67 Clarke st Kamran b Kaneria 35 Gilchrist batting 17 Extras:
(b-4, lb-9, w-3, nb-11) 27 Total: (4 wkts, 86 overs) 340 Fall of wickets:
1.26, 2-83, 3-257, 4-318. Bowling: Shoaib 10-1-46-0, Rana 14-2-61-1, Asif 12-3-48-0, Kaneria 30-4-106-3, Afridi 20-3—66-0.
— AFP |
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Kallis, Boje help SA post 441
Cape Town, January 3 Kallis scored 149, his 19th test century, after more than eight hours at the crease in which he faced 334 balls and hit 11 fours. He put on 104 for the eighth wicket with Nicky Boje, who was last out for 76. South Africa, who had won the toss, resumed on 247 for four and were immediately put under pressure by accurate, probing spells from fast bowlers Stephen Harmison and Matthew Hoggard. The fifth wicket fell in the sixth over when umpire Daryl Harper gave Hashim Amla out leg before to fast bowler Matthew Hoggard for 25. Television replays showed the ball would have passed over the stumps. Kallis completed his century in the 13th over when he took three runs to mid-wicket off fast bowler Simon Jones. But
England struck back seven overs later when AB de Villiers took a swipe at full, leg side ball to left-arm spinner Ashley Giles's seventh ball of the day and was bowled for 21. Eleven balls after that Shaun Pollock was caught behind for four by wicketkeeper Geraint Jones off fast bowler Andrew Flintoff as South Africa slumped to 337 for seven. The home side dug in, however, and England failed to break the free-scoring Kallis-Boje partnership until Kallis hung his bat out to a delivery from Flintoff and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Jones. Flintoff took his third wicket three balls later when Makhaya Ntini skyed a catch to Michael Vaughan at mid-off to be dismissed without scoring. The innings ended when Boje was caught behind by Jones off Flintoff. Boje scored his third half-century off 97 balls with 12 fours. Flintoff took four for 79 and Giles three for 105. England captain Vaughan missed the first 45 minutes of the morning after being struck on the right hand by fast bowler James Anderson while batting in the nets before the start of play. Vaughan was taken to hospital for a precautionary x-ray, which showed bruising but no fracture and he took the field on his return from hospital. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings) Smith c Trescothick b Giles 74 Gibbs b Hoggard 4 Rudolph c G.Jones b S.Jones 26 Kallis c G.Jones b Flintoff 149 Dippenaar b Giles 29 Amla lbw b Hoggard 25 De Villiers b Giles 21 Pollock c G.Jones b Flintoff 4 Boje c G.Jones b Flintoff 76 Ntini c Vaughan b Flintoff 0 Langeveldt not out 5 Extras
(b-4, lb-15, nb-6, w-3) 28 Total (all out, 142.1 overs) 441 Fall of wickets:
1-9, 2-70, 3-145, 4-213, 5-261, 6-308, 7-313, 8-417 9-417. Bowling:
Hoggard 32-7-87-2, Harmison 26-6-82-0, Flintoff 31.1-7-79-4, S.Jones 18-0-69-1, Giles 35-3-105-3.
— Reuters |
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Holders Mumbai dash Delhi’s hopes
Mumbai, January 3 The highlight of the day was a sparkling century by Amol Muzumdar, who had made 112 in Mumbai’s massive first innings score of 600 for 9 declared. Muzumdar thus became the second Mumbai batsman after Wasim Jaffer to compile three centuries in the Ranji Trophy this season. Muzumdar, who batted for close to six hours and struck 13 fours, also put on 144 runs for the fifth wicket with Bhavin Thakkar, who made 82 in less than three hours, as the hosts ground the visitors attack and hopes to dust on a featherbed of a track at the Wankhede Stadium. Scoreboard Delhi (first innings): 394 Mumbai (first innings): Mane c Vinay b Nehra 73 Jaffer c Chopra b Sarandeep 122 Indulkar lbw Sarandeep 85 Muzumdar st Varun b Sanghvi 112 Shetty run out 21 Thakkar c Varun b Jadeja 82 Mota not out 55 Samant c Varun b Jadeja 12 Kulkarni c Varun b Ajay 0 Malvi lbw Jadeja 0 Powar not out 2 Extras: (11-b, 4-lb, 20-nb, 1-w)36 Total: (9 wkts dec,) 600 Fall of wickets: 1-136, 2-288, 3-309, 4-371, 5-515, 6-532, 7-571, 8-577, 9-583. Bowling: Ashish Nehra 33-5-112-1, Bhandari 22-3-79-0, Sarandeep 39-4-128-2, Sanghvi 50.1-9-136-1, Jadeja 27-5-59-4, Bhatia 9-0-35-0, Gambhir 4-0-18-0, Manhas 11-2-18-0. Delhi (2nd innings): Dhawan c Kulkarni b Mane 16 Gambhir not out 11 Bhatia not out 4 Extras: (6-nb) 6 Total: (one wicket,) 37 Fall of wicket: 1-33. Bowling: Malvi 5-0-13-0, Mota 3-0-20-0, Mane 2-1-4-1. TN victory
goes in vain
Chennai: Former champions Tamil Nadu scored a 191-run victory over Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy Elite B league cricket match here today but still failed to make it to the semifinals. Resuming at the overnight score of 24 without loss, Maharashtra were skittled out for 170 with off-spinner R. Ramkumar bagging 4 for 55. For Maharashtra, captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar top scored with 48 (8x4). Earlier, openers Dhiraj Jadhav (47, 6x4), and K B Shinde (17) put on 45 runs before the latter was caught by wicketkeeper Dinesh Kaarthick off medium pacer Ganapathy. Tamil Nadu, who failed to progress to the semifinals after two years, took their points tally to 15, including four from this match. Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu 277 and 259. Maharashtra 175 and 170 (Kanitkar 48, Dhiraj Jadhav 47; Ramkumar 4-55). Railways defeat Karnataka
BANGALORE: Railways registered a seven-wicket victory over Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘A’ match here today and collected full four points. After dismissing the hosts for 241 in the second innings, the visitors reached the winning target losing just three wickets, thanks to an 80-run second wicket partnership between opener Amit Pagnis (41) and J P Yadav (52 not out). Left arm spinner C Raghavendra (2/18), who made his debut in a Ranji match, was the most successful bowler for Karnataka. With this win, Railways increased their points to 12, while Karnataka have six. MP (Ist innings):
392 Bengal (1st innnings): Das c Ojha b Pandey 4, Dasgupta b Pandey 13, Das b Golwalkar 8, Gavaskar c Dholpure b Golwalkar 38, Ganguly b Pandey 121, Lahiri b Dholpure 10, Gandhi b Dholpure 77, L R Shukla st Ojha b Golwalkar 81, Chatterjee c Ojha b Bundela 15, Bose c Abbas Ali b Likhar 3, Paul not out 0, Extras
(b-6, lb-5, nb-12, w-4) 27 Total (all out in 145.2 overs) 397 Fall of wickets:
1-13, 2-18, 3-55, 4-70, 5-106, 6-273, 7-297, 8-341, 9-379. Bowling:
S Pandey 38-7-106-3, Sunil Dholpure 34-11-85-2, D Bundela 16-5-25-1, Y Golwalkar 33.2-8-109-3, J Likhar 18-4-48-1, S Abbas Ali 6-1-13-0. MP (2nd Innings): Dholpure st Dasgupta b Chatterjee 6, Ojha c Das b Chatterjee 51, Bundela not out 50, Abbas Ali not out 0. Extras
(LB1, NB3) 4 Total (For 2 wkts) 111 Fall of wickets:
1/34, 2/105. Bowling: S S Paul 5-1-12-0, R Bose 4-0-12-0, U Chatterjee 12.4-2-45-2, D Gandhi 7-0-27-0, S Lahiri 5-0-14-0. Baroda win, fail to qualify for semis
VADODRA: Former champions Baroda lost to Punjab in the net run rate and failed to make it to the semi-finals despite notching up a facile 142-run victory over Uttar Pradesh on the final day of their sixth and last Elite group “B” Ranji trophy match played at the Motibaug Ground here today. While Hyderabad topped the group with 17 points, Baroda and Punjab were tied on 16 points from their six matches. The latter, however, qualified for the semi-finals on a better net run rate than Baroda. Scoreboard Baroda (Ist innings): 186 UP (Ist innings): 124 Baroda (IInd innings): 283 UP (IInd innings):
Prakash c J Martin b Zaheer 4, Yadav c and b Pawar 24, Kaif run out 29, Raina c Mewada b Zaheer 53, Shukla c Mewada b Zaheer 22, Mir Khan LBW Zaheer 17, R P Singh c Mewada b Zaheer 10, Mishra not out 5, Zaidi c I Pathan(sr) b Y Pathan 20, Samshal did not bat. Extras:
19 Total: (9 wickets ) 203 Fall: 1/8, 2/50, 3/71, 4/121, 5/121, 6/154, 7/171, 8/176, 9/203 Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 20-3-94-5 Irfan Pathan(sr) 13-3-44-0 Rajesh Pawar 8-2-23-1 Yusuf Pathan 13.3-3-38-2.
— UNI |
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Lanka cricketers visit tsunami-hit areas
Colombo, January 3 The players have joined forces with the cricket board, which has set up a Disaster Relief Fund to help hundreds of thousands of people left homeless after giant waves crashed into coastal areas on December 26, killing over 30,000. The board will establish and run three emergency relief centres in Matara, Dambulla and Badulla to provide temporary shelter, food and medicine to survivors. “I don’t have the words to describe what I saw,” Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu told a news conference. “As national players, we wanted to let the people know we are with them. After all, they are our strength.” Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand was postponed last week to allow the players to return home as some were personally affected by the tragedy. Star batsman Sanath Jayasuriya’s hometown, the southern fishing hamlet of Matara, was one of the worst hit and his mother among the injured. “It would have been difficult to focus on the game if the tour continued. I only knew that my mother was injured and cricket was the last thing on my mind after that,” Jayasuriya told reporters. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is planning a relief match between an Asian XI and the Rest of the World to raise funds to help India and Sri Lanka. Cricket is the national sport in Sri Lanka. Top players are treated as superstars and life grinds to a virtual standstill when the national team is playing. Sri Lanka lost to New Zealand in the first of five one-day internationals on December 26 and had been due to play two Tests this month.
— Reuters |
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Cricket fans to victims’ rescue
Sydney, January 3 There are three more days scheduled in the Sydney Test and organisers are confident that they will far exceed their fund-raising target. A special match has been arranged on January 10 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between a Rest of the World XI and an Asian XI with all proceeds going to the relief fund. The confirmed number killed in the massive earthquake and tidal waves that hit Indian Ocean shorelines a week ago passed 144,000. —AFP HONG KONG: A Hong Kong women’s tennis exhibition tournament featuring Russia’s Maria Sharapova and American Serena Williams will donate $ 64,000 from ticket sales to victims of the earthquake and tsunami disaster, organisers said today.
— AP |
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Balkrishan Singh cremated
Patiala, January 3 Earlier, the body of Balkrishan, which was kept in the Army mortuary, was brought in an Army truck to his Stadium Road residence. Visitors to his residence started trickling in since morning to accompany the body on its final journey. The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and his Media Adviser, Mr B.I.S. Chahal, visited the family members of the deceased in the morning and placed wreaths on the body of Balkrishan Singh. The family had placed a blue coat, bearing Indian colours of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, on the body of the Olympian. Balkrishan’s youngest daughter Meenu who was scheduled come from New Zealand, could not make it as her flight had to be diverted to Mumbai due to foggy conditions at the IGI Airport, New Delhi. Wreaths were placed on behalf of the Punjab Golf Association and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which was represented by the Regional Director, NIS, Mr L.S. Ranawat. The district administration was represented by Mr Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon, ADC. The pyre was jointly lit by Balkrishan’s daughters Hareena and Intu Ghuman. Prominent among those who attended the cremation were Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former skippers of the national hockey squad Balbir Singh (Senior) and Harmeek Singh, Punjab Director (Sports) Kartar Singh, Dronacharya awardee D.P. Azad, Boxing chief coach G.S. Sandhu, former chief coach of the women’s national team Gurdial Singh Bhangu, former chief coach of the national athletics squad J.S. Saini, former NIS badminton chief coach Pitamber Singh, Chandigarh Hockey Association Secretary Yash Vohra, former assistant coach of the national hockey team Sukhbir Grewal, 1984 Los Angeles hockey Olympian Hardip Singh, senior athletics coaches Kenny Bossen, Bahadur Singh and Jugraj Singh, NIS hockey coaches I.S. Gill and Tejinder Singh, Patiala District Sports Officer Sunil Khosla and his predecessor S.S. Tiwana, Deputy Director (Sports), PSEB, Mr Vir Davinder Singh, and Press Secretary of the SAD (Mann), Mr N.P. Singh. Patiala Mayor Vishnu
Sharma, Chairman of the local Improvement Trust K.K. Sharma and almost all coaches and chief coaches of the National Institute of Sports (NIS) were present on the occasion. |
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IWHF condoles Balkrishan’s death
New Delhi, January 3 “It is a great loss to the nation as well as women’s hockey. He was the father-figure of women’s hockey”, they said in a condolence message. Balkrishan Singh was the coach of the Indian women’s hockey team when they won the gold in the 9th Asian Games held in Delhi in 1982 and the first Asia Cup in Kyoto (Japan) in 1981. And since 1994, he has been the adviser of the IWHF. |
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Parminder Sr announces retirement
Ludhiana, January 3 Talking to this correspondent over phone, Parminder Singh, fondly called Happy said that he wished to give a gift (winner’s trophy) to Punjab. However, his wish could not be accomplished as the hosts had lost a close battle to Uttranchal in the final during the 55th Dhanoa Senior National Basketball Championship held here from December 26 to January 2. He talked very high of the younger lot of boys when he said that till the semifinals, Punjab kept their rivals on their toes and the boys had great potential. “ Punjab would have a very strong team in the near future, felt the former captain. Parminder Singh, who stands 6’-8” in his socks has led his state for a record period of a decade. Employed with the Punjab Police, Parminder has the distinction of leading the team during the Federation Cup and National Games. He represented India in the SAF Games, SAARC Games, Asian Confederation Cup , Goodwill Tours to Canada and the USA, Spirits Challenge Tournaments at Kazakistan, Tashkand and Saudi Arabia. He led India during a number of foreign tours during which he was bestowed with the best scorer and the best player awards.
Acknowledging his achievements, Parminder was chosen for the Arjun award in the year 2001. The tall, and stoutly built-up cager, Parminder from Bhandal Bet village in Kapurthala district said that with Mr Rajdeep Singh Gill, ADGP an President, Basketball Federation of India at the helm, basketball had improved a lot at rural level in the state. The former Indian captain further said that he owed a lot to Arjuna awardee Sajjan Singh Cheema who spotted him and groomed him to become a cager of international level. “I would serve the game by associating myself in training the young boys and girls or in any other capacity, “Parminder added Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, honorary secretary, Punjab Basketball Association and Dr S Subramanium, former director, NIS Patiala who trained the big cager, when asked about Parminder’s retirement said that his absence would be felt badly. |
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Punjab 193 for 6 against Himachal
Patiala, January 3 Brief scores:
HP (1st innings) 268 all out Punjab (1st innings) 156 all out HP
(2nd inning: 185 all out (Rajeev Kapoor 58, Rajesh Sharma 7 for 91, Ashish Sehgal 2 for 27) Punjab
(2nd inning: 193 for 6 (S.P Singh 41, Chandan Madan 34, Ishan Malhotra 32, Vipul 43, Saurav Rattan 4 for 43) |
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Veterans cricket
New Delhi, January 3 |
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WFI forms panel to pick probables
Chandigarh, January 3 The probables shortlisted will be given extensive training at home and abroad to prepare them for the Asian Games to be held in Qatar in 2006. A decision to this effect was taken at a WFI executive body meeting held under the chairmanship of Dr M.S. Malik, President, WFI, at Nidani, Jind. Executive members authorised Dr Malik to decide the venue and date for convening the annual general body meeting of the WFI. He assured the members that the meeting would be convened shortly, circulating the agenda for the meeting to all members in advance. Dr Malik said the Central Government had agreed with the WFI’s proposal to hire a foreign freestyle wrestling coach. The WFI will pay special attention to the diet of these probables and their participation in international events. The WFI authorised Maharashtra to host the Junior (Boys) National Wrestling Championship, and Chandigarh for the Cadet, Junior and Senior Women’s Wrestling Championship during 2005. The Senior National Wrestling Championship will be hosted by MTNL or UP. It was also decided at the meeting to approach the government for forming a panel of qualified sports medicine doctors, masseurs and sports psychologists. These will be attached with the teams. |
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Sasikiran makes winning start
New Delhi, January 3 In an upset result, Junaid Ahmed of Uttar Pradesh held Grandmaster Dmitry Kayumov of Uzbekistan while Bengal junior Saptarshi Roy split points with lower-rated VN Makvana. Six Grandmasters and 13 International Masters are among the 276 highly rated players participating in the tournament. The tournament will give an opportunity to young players to make the International Master and Grandmaster norms. In other matches, Debyendu Barua beat Anuprita Patil, Tilenbaeya Janyl of Kirgyzstan lost to Alexnder Fominyh of Russia, Updesh Sharma of India lost to Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan, RB Ramesh beat Debasish Das, S Nabeela Farheen of India lost to Sivanandan, Enamul Hossain of Bangladesh defeated Saket Kumar, Suvarjit Saha beat SS Dave and KV Anil Kumar lost to Sergey Kayumov of Uzbekistan. |
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Prakash, Schuettler crash out
Chennai, January 3 Prakash, first of the four Indian challengers, lost to unseeded Ivo Heuberger of Switzerland 4-6, 4-6. Earlier, in a major upset, Schuettler was swept off the centre court by unseeded Olvier Patience of France 6-2, 6-2. Prakash, who made his bow in the ATP tour event here last year, did pull out some good serves and volleys in the second set. But Heurberger, who served much more consistently and returned well, broke Prakash in the seventh game of the first set after it went on serves till the sixth game. The second was a virtual repeat of the first as Heuberger broke Prakash in the seventh. Down 3-5, Prakash managed to hold his serve. But, Heuberger shut him out holding serve in the tenth when Prakash hit a volley out on his forehand. However, on the outer court in another first round match, former champion Czech Michel Tabara survived a three setter to beat his compatriot Jiri Vanek, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5). In a match of long baseline rallies, Tabara who had won the title here in 2001 and is currently ranked 119 to Vanek's 126, also had to fight hard in the third set tie break in which Vanek tied 5-5 with him. India's Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad entered the main draw while former national champion Vinod Sridhar went down tamely.
— UNI |
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Harsh through to main draw
Chennai, January 3 Twenty-six-year-old Mankad, whose ATP ranking dropped to 300 from career best 282, defeated Jamie Delgado. He staged a brilliant comeback after being down by a set. Mankad won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Delgado, ranked 198, in an upset final match of the qualifying round. The Indian challenge in the main draw now has one more player in addition to the three wild cards Leander Paes, Prakash Amritraj and Karan Rastogi. The only other Indian to get through to the main draw from the qualifiers in the Chennai Open was Sandeep Kirtane in 1997. Harsh picked up his rhythm from the second set and turned the pressure on Delgado in the third. However, former national champion, Vinod Sridhar, the only other Indian to survive to the final matches of the qualifying round, went down tamely to Marcus Baghdatis 3-6, 4-6.
— UNI |
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Good that Chennai Open is on: Paradon
Chennai, January 3 “Yes, I had to come in after a shock. But the good thing is that the tournament is on,” the 25-year-old Thai, who has been the face of Asia on the ATP World Tour, said at a press conference.
Srichaphan said he was in Pataya when the tsunami struck on December 26. He was concerned for a couple of friends who happened to be in Phuket where the tsunami caused fatalities. “I was pretty shocked”, he said.
— UNI |
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“I wanted to quit on a happy note by giving the national title to my state, but I could not help as in the final, our opponents, Uttranchal played well and deserved to win,” emotionally charged Parminder Singh Sr, captain of Punjab basketball team reacted while announcing his retirement today.
