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Brazil lift Confederations Cup
India may have to qualify for ICC
Twenty20 cricket likely for Delhi Commonwealth
Games
Johansson, Roddick in semis
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High altitude camps not being held
Uncertainty about tenure does not bother Rajinder
Jharkhand drub Pepsu 3-0
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Brazil lift Confederations Cup
Frankfurt, June 30 Two outstanding goals from Adriano led the world champions to a memorable victory with a blistering 11th minute shot and a 63rd minute header to make him the tournament’s top scorer with five goals. Kaka, firing home in the 16th minute after an audacious drag-back and sweetly-struck curler, and Ronaldinho, with a simple tap-in in the 47th, also got themselves on the scoresheet in Carlos Alberto Parreira’s 100th match as Brazil coach. Robinho went close to making it five with a 20-m shot that cannoned off the crossbar after 58 minutes and Adriano was only centimetres away from forcing home the ball for his hat-trick a minute from time. In short, Brazil were irresistible. The only sour note in an otherwise sporting game came when Ronaldinho and Fabricio Coloccini were booked in the 28th minute after Ronaldinho jabbed an elbow at the Argentinian after he kicked the Brazilian skipper. Apart from that, it was a fitting finale to a superb tournament that saw 56 goals scored in 16 matches and augurs well for next year’s World Cup — especially for Brazil who even coped with the cold night air. For after two weeks of blisteringly hot weather, the match was played on a chilly night as a thunderstorm raged around the Waldstadion, the pitch and spectators protected from the rain and lightning with the roof covers in place. Germany third
LEIPZIG: Captain Michael Ballack scored with a blistering free kick in extra time to lead 10-man Germany to a 4-3 win over Mexico and claim third place in the Confederations Cup yesterday. Ballack’s shot from just outside the box curled over the wall and beyond Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez seven minutes into extra time, giving Germany victory after Mexico had equalised three times in the opening 90 minutes. Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Robert Huth also scored for Germany. Jared Borgetti scored with two headers and Jose Fonseca got the other for Mexico, who were playing extra time for the second time in four days. Third place gave Germany, who lost striker Mike Hanke to a red card nine minutes into the second half, some consolation after losing 3-2 in the semifinals to world champions and eventual tournament winners Brazil. “The way the crowd carried the team after Hanke was sent off was just sensational,” said Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann. “You could see the way everyone was going all out for each other with every ounce of energy. Mexico are number six in the world and we had a lot of respect for them.” Germany, who will be hosting next year’s World Cup, got off to a slow start but improved after Hanke hit the crossbar midway through the half. Sebastian Deisler in midfield and right back Andreas Hinkel repeatedly tore through the left side of Mexico’s defence before Podolski broke the deadlock in the 37th minute. Teed up by Schweinsteiger, the 20-year-old’s superb shot from the left flew into the far corner of the net, beyond the reach of a diving Sanchez. Mexico levelled just three minutes later after Torsten Frings carelessly lost the ball in midfield to Zinha, who set up Fonseca for a low shot past keeper Oliver Kahn. Schweinsteiger restored Germany’s lead within a minute, tapping in at the far post after a cross from Hinkel, only for his team to go a man down after the break. Hanke was red-carded for clattering into Carlos Salcido after the defender had cleared the ball and Mexico soon equalised — Borgetti beating centre back Per Mertesacker to a cross from Luis Perez. Despite the setbacks, Huth blasted home Germany’s third from close range off a corner from Schweinsteiger in the 79th minute. Germany’s defence was caught napping again five minutes from time when Borgetti headed Mexico’s third, but Ballack’s sweetly-struck free kick in extra time sealed the victory for the host nation. Ballack, who grew up in a small town just south of Leipzig, was named Man of the Match. “This was a great win and should give us an important boost for the months ahead,” said Ballack.
— Reuters |
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India may have to qualify for ICC Champions Trophy
London, June 30 According to the new format, top six sides of the ICC ODI Championship table as on April 1, 2006, would get a direct entry while the next four Test playing nations would have to play a round robin qualifying for the remaining two spots. The eight teams would then be split into two groups of four each with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the semifinals, the International Cricket Council said today. “The initial qualifying round will take place in India immediately
preceding the group stage,” the ICC press note added. ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said the new format would be highly competitive for all the participating teams. “The IDI Board is of the view that the new format has addressed the main flaws of the previous 12-team system and we now look forward to an exciting major international event in India,” Speed said. The IDI Board also reviewed the draft fixtures schedule for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 and the inputs of the Board would be incorporated before the final schedule is announced by ICC President Ehsan Mani in Trinidad on July 19.
—PTI |
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Twenty20 cricket likely for Delhi Commonwealth
Games
New Delhi, June 30 "It was decided to take the discussions further," he said, implying that the ICC was not averse to having Twenty20 being played as part of the 2010 Games. In New Delhi, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary-general Randhir Singh confirmed that the possibility of cricket being included in the Games — for only the second time in its history — was very much alive. "We will be very happy to organise the Twenty20 version of the game," said Randhir Singh, who is also a member of both the International Olympic Committee and of the executive board of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). After the fiasco at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, where some participating countries, including India, did not send their best cricket teams that led to a huge controversy, the CGF is keen to ensure that the participating countries send only their top players the next time. After the Kuala Lumpur Games, ICC declined to allow the 50-over-per-innings format of the game to be part of the Games anymore as it feared that would reduce the significance of its own World Cup, held once in four years. That leaves only the 20-over-per-innings Twenty20 version — a big rage in England and fast becoming popular worldwide — to be played at the Delhi Games.
— IANS |
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Johansson, Roddick in semis
London, June 30 Against Nalbandian, he used his fine return to wear his opponent down and mixed up play intelligently from the back of the court. Johansson became the first Swede since Stefan Edberg in 1993 to reach Wimbledon semifinals. Johansson broke Nalbandian’s serve in the third game of the first set and after that, the Argentine always looked on the backfoot. The 23-year-old, seeded 18th here, levelled things in the seventh game, but errors let him down in the tie-breakers, which Johansson won with his fourth break point. The Swede waltzed through the second set after going 3-0 up, Nalbandian surrendering it tamely. Two breaks in the third set took Johansson to a showdown against Andy Roddick. The second seed was forced to battle through five sets to defeat Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 and take his place in the Wimbledon semifinals for the third successive year. The 27-year-old Frenchman’s flamboyant game gave him an early lead, but the American then cranked up his formidable serve and took the second set with some ease. The 22-year-old Roddick looked to be strolling through to his fourth Grand Slam semifinal when he walked away with the third set, but he suffered a lapse of concentration and Grosjean claimed the fourth. An early break in the fifth set put Roddick on course for a place in the semifinals. He secured it with a huge serve on his first match point.
— Reuters |
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High altitude camps not being held
Chandigarh, June 30 Punjab, which once used to be at the top in school sports, is now on the verge of losing this status. It may be recalled that school sports in Punjab was given a fillip by Milkha Singh, who headed the sports wing of the Punjab Education Department from the late 70s till the 1990s. It was during his tenure that the summer coaching camps were held and proved to be a success. The camps of the duration of nearly three weeks were held at Srinagar and Sundernagar during his tenure. Nearly 400 boys and girls in the age group 11-18 used to take part in these camps held every year in more than 15 sports disciplines. One of the former coaches attached with the Education Department said Milkha Singh personally supervised the schedule of the trainers. In the morning hours, rigorous physical exercises were held and on every Saturday cross country races were managed by Milkha Singh who noted down the performance of every runner and also gave them incentives for improving their performance. After Milkha Singh’s retirement, B.D. Gandhi took over as head of school sports and continued with the practice of having regular summer caoching camps and these were held every year at Sundernagar (Mandi District). Later, when P.S. Chhabra took over as Deputy Director Physical Education, the camps were held both for Primary and Secondary sections. More than 400 boys and girls attended these camps held at Sundernagar and once at Pandoh. “Why the Education Department is not serious in giving the high altitude training exposure to potential champions of Punjab is a point of concern”, said a national player who had attended these camps few years back.
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Uncertainty about tenure does not bother Rajinder
Patiala, June 30 Rajinder’s apprehensions are based on facts. A close perusal of records reveals that the IHF has sacked as many as 15 coaches in the past 11 years and despite all this chopping and changing the results are nowhere to be seen. Even if Rajinder, who has been assured by IHF that he will be in charge of the team till the 2006 World Cup — to be held in Germany, manages to steer his team to the semifinals there, he may still find himself out in the cold. Observers here cite the examples of the country’s most successful hockey coaches being sacked due to the whimsical attitude of the IHF. The chief coach is fully aware of these facts but seldom does he let such aberrations bother him at ongoing national camp. The record sheet reveals that M.K. Kaushik, who guided the national squad to a gold medal winning effort at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games was shown the door despite the fact that it was after a gap of 32 years that the Indians managed to win the gold medal. Also cited is the example of the Cedric D’ Souza. The Mumbai-based Air India’s coach, widely credited to be a master strategist and the man who tried to blend European style with the Asian one, was unceremoniously dumped during the 2002 Kuala Lumpur World cup. The IHF think-tank did so despite knowing fully well that it was under the leadership of Cedric D’ Souza that India won its first FIH tournament on astro turf when he
guided the team to an emphatic win in the 2000 Dhaka Champions Challenge cup. In fact, experts here say that it was this victory which enabled Indian to take part in three successive editions of the Champions Trophy. Cedric’s exit meant the entry of Rajinder Singh (sr) as the chief coach. After guiding India to a gold medal winning performance in the Hobart Junior World Cup, Rajinder was sacked just a month ahead of the Athens Olympics, although no concrete reasons were given by the IHF for his removal. Even though Rajinder (jr) knows the fate that has befallen India’s most successful coaches, the smile on the jovial Jalandhar man’s face at the end of a hectic session only goes to indicate that he is fully enjoying his stint at the camp. |
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Jharkhand drub Pepsu 3-0
New Delhi, June 30 Pepsu, who put up a stiff resistance before going down to hosts Delhi 1-2 yesterday, failed to raise the level of their game as they failed to counter the aggressive tactics of the Jharkhand girls to concede two goals in the first half and one on resumption. Jharkhand forged ahead in the 18th minute when Punita Minz slotted home a brilliant field goal. Captain Susma Kiran Minz, scored off their second penalty corner a minute after the first goal and added the third a minute before the final hooter. The first match of the day between Delhi and Mizoram fell through as the latter cried off the championship, reducing the field to only 13 teams. In the afternoon, Uttar Pradesh put up a vastly improved display to swamp Kerala 7-0 in Pool A. Captain Meenakshi was the play-maker and the star of the UP victory as she not only scored a brace, but also played decisive role in all the other goals. Ashrita Toppo, who opened the account in the seventh minute, also scored the sixth goal in the second half. Poonam Singh, Manjari and Neelam Kushwaha were the other scorers for UP, who led by 3-0 at half time. In another Pool A match, Air India rallied to beat Karnataka 3-2. The Karnataka girls, who dominated the game in the first half, forged ahead in the 11th minute when Usha K scored off the first penalty corner. Karnataka maintained their edge but failed to score, and Air India made a determined charge in the latter part of the second half to pull off the equaliser through Vijaya Mogal. They maintained the momentum on resumption with Smiley Hemalatha finding the mark twice to put them 3-2 ahead. But Karnataka ran the Air India girls close at the fag end when Usha K scored yet again (2-3). But Air India kept attacking to protect the slender lead to record their first victory. |
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