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Sania goes down fighting
England take 99-run lead
McGrath aims for fourth Test return
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Yadav, Kumble set to play against Windies
Lanka boosted by return of Vaas, Jayasuriya
Anju leads Indian challenge
India to fight hard for semis berth
Appointment of foreign coaches questioned
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Sania goes down fighting
New Delhi, August 5 The tough task of winning four matches — including two qualifying rounds — at a tournament of a level second only to Grand Slams and the emotional high of becoming the first Indian in 16 years to break into the top 50 seemed to take its toll on 18-year-old Sania. In a humdinger of a contest, both players struggled to get their first serve going, but Sania’s errors came at crunch situations. The Indian was up a break at 3-2 in the final set, but could not hold on to the advantage. After breaking Morigami, world ranked 61st, in the opening game of the match, Sania surrendered the lead in the next game and went on to make three double faults to drop serve in the sixth and eighth games to lose the set. The first double fault came at deuce in the sixth and Morigami pounced on the opportunity to convert the break. The second came on her next service game when she was up 40-0 and the third on set point. But the Hyderabadi, the first Indian to win a WTA title, hit back as she broke Morigami thrice in the second set. Although she was broken twice, her serving was free of errors. But the double fault syndrome returned to haunt her in the decider. Having forced a break in the fifth game, Sania double faulted at 0-30 in the next game to face triple break point. Morigami converted it without a fuss and uncorked another break in the 10th game to seal the issue in an hour and 41 minutes. The 103.5 points (52.5 circuit points plus 51 bonus points) in the tournament were bound to push Sania from her current ranking of 59 to possibly 47 when they would be released next week.
— PTI |
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England take 99-run lead
Birmingham, August 5 England finished the day at 25 for 1, extending their lead to 124, but lost opener Andrew Strauss, who was bowled by Shane Warne. Earlier, fast bowler Simon Jones, who took two wickets, and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, with three, were England’s other top performers. Jones produced a fine display of reverse swing which included the ball of the day to dismiss top scorer Justin Langer for 82, while Flintoff finished off the innings with two inswinging yorkers off consecutive balls. Giles removed Australia’s two in-form batsmen, Ricky Ponting for 61 and Michael Clarke for 40, before Australia lost their last five wickets for 46 runs. Giles finished with three for 78 to Flintoff’s three for 52. Adam Gilchrist remained 49 not out at the end. Earlier, England, who scored at more than five an over yesterday, took two late wickets in the first two sessions to stay on top. Giles added Michael Clarke’s wicket to that of Ricky Ponting as the Australians threatened to take control during the afternoon. Clarke had reached 40, playing the dominant role in a 76-run stand with Langer for the fourth wicket, when Giles speared down a quicker delivery which the young right-hander edged behind. That made it 194 for four and soon it was 208 for five when Simon Katich on four edged Andrew Flintoff behind. Clarke, like Ponting before him, had looked in fine touch, threading needles on both sides of the wicket with some excellent drives while Langer scratched about at the other end. The morning had also been England’s, although the Australians contributed with some uncharacteristic lapses. Matthew Hayden’s lapse earned him his first golden duck in 120 Test innings. Scoreboard England (1st innings) 407 Australia (1st innings) Langer lbw b S. Jones 82 Hayden c Strauss b Hoggard 0 Ponting c Vaughan b Giles 61 Martyn run out 20 Clarke c G. Jones b Giles 40 Katich c G. Jones b Flintoff 4 Gilchrist not out 49 Warne b Giles 8 Lee c Flintoff b S. Jones 6 Gillespie lbw b Flintoff 7 Kasprowicz lbw b Flintoff 0 Extras
(b-13, lb-7, Total
(all out, 76 overs) 308 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-88, 3-118, 4-194, 5-208, 6-262, 7-273, 8-282, 9-308. Bowling:
Harmison 11-1-48-0, Hoggard 8-0-41-1, S.Jones 16-2-69-2, Flintoff 15-1-52-3, Giles 26-2-78-3. England (2nd innings) Trescothick not out 19 Strauss b Warne 6 Hoggard not out 0 Total
(1 wicket, 7 overs) 25 Fall of wicket: 1-25. Bowling:
Lee 3-0-13-0, Gillespie 2-0-7-0, Kasprowicz 1-0-5-0, Warne 1-1-0-1. —
Reuters |
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McGrath aims for fourth Test return
Birmingham, August 5 The spearhead of Australia’s attack trod on a cricket ball laid out on the outfield for one of the team’s pre-match fielding drills an hour-and-a-quarter before the start, as he turned to pick up a rugby ball. He tore ligaments in his right ankle and after lying on the turf for several minutes before his team-mates helped him into
a buggy. After he returned from hospital, McGrath, whose place was taken by fellow seamer Michael
Kasprowicz, saw England pile up 407 all out on the first day. By contrast, at Lord’s last month, England were twice bowled out for under 200, man-of-the-match McGrath returning figures of nine for 82 on his way to becoming only the fourth man to take 500 Test wickets. After stumps, Australia physiotherapist Errol Alcott refused to rule McGrath out of the third Test, though that would start at Old Trafford on Thursday. But the 35-year-old bowler himself said his target was Trent Bridge, where the fourth Test was due to begin on August 25. “I am confident I can hopefully be right for Trent Bridge. That is what I am aiming for, at worst,” the 110-Test veteran
added. Alcott added: “It is a bit early to say how long it is going to take. Glenn is displaying his intent, but of course, with an ankle injury like this, we are not sure how long it may take”. “Iam not ruling anything out at the moment. We just want to wait and see how he is over the next couple of days.”
— AFP |
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Yadav, Kumble set to play against Windies
Colombo, August 5 Coach Greg Chappell indicated today that he wanted to give all members of the squad a chance to show their mettle. He also hinted that Kumble, so far untried in the competition, could find a place in the final eleven. “I want to give everyone who is here a chance to play, so hopefully J.P. Yadav will be seen against the West Indies,” Chappell said after a gruelling practice session here. India had lost twice to Sri Lanka and were still not sure of their place in the final, but Chappell was sticking to his policy of experimenting to find the right combination for the side, still struggling to find its form. “I want to have a bigger pool of players. You never know when illness can play a part or somebody is injured. You need to have options,” the former Australian captain said. Chappell, a great believer in shuffling things around to keep opponents guessing, wanted to bring the Indians out of their comfort zones. “When opportunities present, we need to change
things up, take them out of comfort zone.” “The other day we tried Mohammad Kaif and he did help us along the way,” the coach said on the Uttar Pradesh batsman’s 34-run knock while opening the innings against the West Indies last week. The coach indicated that the side was also trying to convert Virender Sehwag into an allrounder to get around the longstanding lack of a fifth bowler. “He has not bowled an awful lot, but we are trying to develop him and make use of his bowling skills. He can be handy in that area. We then have J.P. Yadav and Irfan Pathan the other day gave an indication of his ability.” Chappell said various options were being discussed to come up trumps in the tri-series final on Tuesday. “It is a confidence thing and it can turn quickly. But in cricket as in life, you learn your lessons, but do not dwell on it and move on quickly.” “We have not won for a while, so it takes some time to turn the corner. But once confidence and belief come back, things will be better,” Chappell said. He believed that better batting could have resulted in India winning all the three games rather than being two down to Sri Lanka in
the series. “If we had batted well, we should have won all the three games and got bonus points as well,” the coach said, adding, “We also could have bowled better.” Indian batsmen had found it difficult to break the shackles imposed by the Sri Lankan bowlers and Chappell said options to tackle them were being discussed, including someone in the line-up taking them on. “We have discussed this along with a number of other options. We tried doing it against Dilshan, but it did not work. It is true their bowlers have been very stifling and miserly.” “Having said so, the wicket at the Premadasa Stadium is likely to turn, but can be quicker as well.” Chappell said the conditions at Dambulla also contributed to the unimpressive show put up by the Indians. “One of the things which has not been discussed enough about Dambulla was the wind factor. It was off-putting to us, but they were used to it and handled the conditions better.”
— PTI |
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Lanka boosted by return of Vaas, Jayasuriya
Colombo, August 5 West Indies will hope to win back-to-back matches this weekend to remain in the triangular series. However, even if they lose tomorrow, they can still make it to the final by beating India by an overwhelming margin on Sunday.
—PTI |
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Anju leads Indian challenge
New Delhi, August 5 Discus throwers Neelam Jaswant Singh and Vikas Gowda, who make up the Indian trio, are not considered to be among the elite and not expected to pose much of a challenge. The Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) resisted the temptation to name a bigger squad for the 10th edition of the championships, saying selection was based on the current performances of the athletes concerned. Anju, the first Indian with a medal at the World Championships, which she won in Paris two years ago, will once again lead Indian hopes in the long jump when her event gets under way on August 9. But the 28-year-old from Kerala, currently ranked fifth in the world, has had an average season by her standards, with her best being only 6.42 metres, achieved in Doha, Qatar, in May. The mark is way below her personal best of 6.83 metres she jumped at the Athens Olympics last year, which is a national record. The gold medallist from the Busan Asian Games, coached by husband Bobby George, will look to find some of her old form in the face of stiff Russian challenge led by Tatyana Kotova and Irina Simagina. She has not made huge waves in the lead-up to Helsinki, managing a fourth place finish at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in London with a jump of 6.41 metres. She could not attain a podium finish at the next event in Stockholm, with a distance of 6.49 metres. But Anju maintains that her preparation for the World Championships was on track and she was ready for a good performance at Helsinki. “I am almost close to my Olympics form,” she said, exuding confidence of winning a medal in the mega-event. Her coach was also hopeful of leaving behind an average season and peaking in the elite competition. “We know how to peak in time. We will do our season’s best at the World Championships,” Bobby George said. With Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva and Sweden’s Carolina Kluft not figuring in the long jump entry list, the prospects of Anju defending her bronze medal can get a boost. The Indian, will hope that it is bright and sunny during the competition as she never performs her best in cold and damp conditions.
— PTI |
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Phelps takes title, falls short of target
Irvine (USA), August 5 “I wanted to get the fastest time in the world tonight, but it is probably a pretty decent swim for now,” he said of his 1:55.26. At the halfway point, Phelps was under the pace of his own world record of 1:53.93, but he faded in the second 100m and failed to supplant Polish world champion Pawel Korzeniowski atop the 2005 timings. Korzeniowski won gold in Montreal in 1:55.02.
— AFP |
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India to fight hard for semis berth
Visakhapatnam, August 5 Pool A looks formidable as it has four continental champions in Cuba, Russia (six-time champion), Morocco and Korea, besides the highly talented Serbia and Montenegro, the Balkan champions. Coach Chander Singh is, however, quite confident of his boys giving a good performance. “We have prepared well and the long stint of the conditioning camp in Bangalore has helped the boys to reach peak fitness. Our strategy is to plan for one match at a time. Now we are working how to win against Morocco,” he said. India have skipper R. Kamaraj, who was ranked the best setter in the youth category, and Ratish Nair, adjudged the second best blocker in the previous World Youth Boys Championships. P.S. Srikanth, G. Pradeep, Jitendra Singh and Surjit Singh are the other players to watch for. — UNI |
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Appointment of foreign coaches questioned
New Delhi, August 5 Several Olympians have questioned the move by the federations and the government to appoint foreign coaches, though India’s experience with foreign coaches has been one of disappointment. Former Olympian and Asian Games gold medallist Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, who is national selector of the senior athletics team, said it was futile to engage foreign coaches at enormous cost. He said Milkha Singh, Sri Ram Singh, P.T. Usha, Anju Bobby George and he, who had entered the finals of the Olympic Games, had done it without the help and assistance of foreign coaches. He said Anju and Neelam J. Singh, both medal hopes for India, were being trained by Bobby George and Jaswant Singh, respectively, and they had not felt the need to have a foreign coach. Many Olympians, who did not wish to be named, said Indian coaches would do better if the present incentive-based scheme was done away with, as now their sole aim was to earn some quick bucks. |
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