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Steady start for England
India will need an inspired show to beat |
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PCB not to lock horns with ICC over Inzamam
It’s Federer and rest of the field
Sania makes winning start
Geet Sethi storms into semifinals
Arjuna Award for Abhinn
JCT edge out BSF
Bhopal on hockey’s comeback trail
Indians win team
title
Overwhelming response to CSJA seminar
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Steady start for England
Nottingham, August 25 Marcus Trescothick led the line at Trent Bridge, scoring 65 and putting on a century stand for the first wicket with Andrew Strauss, before Vaughan added 58 during the afternoon. Kevin Pietersen was 33 not out at the close, brought forward by bad light, with Andrew Flintoff on eight. Australia were without Glenn McGrath after the miserly fast bowler was ruled out with a right elbow injury. His place was taken by Michael Kasprowicz, who played when an ankle problem ruled McGrath out of the second Test at Edgbaston where England won by two runs to level the series at 1-1. And the attack also featured debutant Shaun Tait. The leading wicket-taker in Sheffield Shield cricket last season, Tait replaced Jason Gillespie, whose three wickets in the series had cost 100 runs apiece. In McGrath’s absence, Lee and Kasprowicz, reckoned to have the greater control, took the new ball. But they both bowled seven no-balls. Trescothick did have a lucky break when, on 12, he inside-edged Kasprowicz past his stumps and he was fortunate when a miscued drive off the Queenslander sailed through a gap in the offside field for a four that brought up the fifty-stand. Tait came on in the 10th over and the 22-year-old South Australian’s slingshot action, likened to that of Australia great Jeff Thomson, was soon helping him bowl at over 90mph. Meanwhile, such was the dominance of England’s left-handed openers that Australia captain Ricky Ponting had to bring on master leg-spinner Shane Warne as early as the 18th over after Kasprowicz’s costly spell of eight overs for 37 runs. England were then 78 without loss and in Warne’s second over, Trescothick struck him straight back over his head for a disdainful six. Trescothick, who in the course of his innings surpassed Trevor Bailey’s record of 875 runs — the most by an Englishman against Australia without scoring a century — clipped Lee to make a 77-ball fifty with one six and six fours. Next ball he cover-drove Lee for a resounding boundary to bring up the century partnership, the seventh time he had put on a hundred with Strauss. But on 105 England lost their first wicket when Strauss, on 35, bottom edged a sweep off Warne, the first man to take 600 Test wickets, onto his boot and was caught by Matthew Hayden as the ball ballooned to slip. It seemed as if veteran umpire Steve Bucknor had given Strauss not out but, with Warne continuing his appeal, the West Indian consulted with Pakistan’s Aleem Dar at square leg before the decision was handed to the third umpire. Scoreboard
England 1st Innings Trescothick b Tait 65 Strauss c Hayden b Warne 35 Vaughan c Gilchrist b Ponting 58 Bell c Gilchrist b Tait 3 Pietersen not out 33 Flintoff not out 8 Extras (lb-4, w-1, nb-22) 27 Total (for four wickets, Fall of wickets: 1-105 2-137 3-146 4-213. Bowling: Lee 16-1-75-0, Kasprowicz 18-2-56-0, Tait 14-1-62-2, Warne 6-1-23-1, Ponting 6-2-9-1.
— AFP, Reuters |
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India will need an inspired show to beat New Zealand
Bulawayo, August 25 But Sourav Ganguly’s team have sent wrong signals ahead of the lung-opener as they chose to arrive at the venue just 24 hours before the start of the game and this attitude to the opponents could come to haunt them in the rest of the tournament. New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming had little doubt that conditions in Bulawayo could take some time getting used to, but the Indians had preferred to practise in Harare. “That we have been here for 10 days is an advantage. This is a place which takes getting used to. The day may start mildly, but the afternoon can cause burn in the lungs,” Fleming said. When early momentum was what every team sought ahead of a tournament, the Indians chose to follow a shambolic travel plan and then stubbornly spent two days in Harare to make up for the training camp they missed in India. The week had unfolded in utter confusion, if not disharmony, for the Indians, who were first refused a two-day training camp by the board, which publicly accused them of indiscipline after a few players turned up late at a Mumbai hotel prior to the squad’s departure. The travel plan was befuddling as it made little sense to halt at Harare when staying at Bulawayo would have been the sensible option. The tourists spent two days training extensively, but how much the lack of acclimatisation could come to haunt them would be known in the next 24 hours. The fading winter was still enough to keep the pitch dew-heavy, with an early start at 9.30 am, but then the blazing sun sapped energy quickly. The pitch, overall, was a batting beauty, but the Indians would be hoping for a lot of factors to fall in their favour if they wanted a resounding start to the tour. The New Zealand batsmen, after warming up against Zimbabwe, would be looking to carry on their good work against India. They did not stretch prime pacer Shane Bond either and would unleash him on the Indians tomorrow. Fleming was looking for further improvement in his team’s play and said, “We are very keen to know about ourselves and understanding our own players rather than worry about the opponents. This is a thing which a lot other teams ignore.” But still, it would be naive to expect that Fleming and Ganguly would not try to settle a few points over the next fortnight. While the Indians were vanquished in New Zealand just before the 2003 World Cup, the men in blue had their revenge in the mega-event itself, which sent Fleming and Co. hurtling out of tournament.
— PTI |
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PCB not to lock horns with ICC over Inzamam
Karachi, August 25 PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan, after a meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, said from Islamabad that he was personally disappointed that the country’s best batsman had failed to find a place in either of the two teams. “As Chairman of the PCB, I am disappointed because Inzamam is a class act and a proven performer and deserved to be in the team. But while saying this, I add that I respect and accept the selection process and will not take up the matter with the ICC or its selectors,” Shaharyar Khan said. Inzamam, who led Asia in last week’s Afro-Asian series, was overlooked for October’s Super Series, involving a World XI side and Australia, in three one-day internationals and a six-day Test.
— PTI |
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Bangladesh cricketers arrive in Sri Lanka
Colombo, August 25 The tourists were brimming with confidence after recording a stunning five-wicket win over world champions Australia in the recent tri-series in England.
— AFP |
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It’s Federer and rest of the field
New York, August 25 He did not much care how it turned it out, who he played in the first round next Monday or who he might play in the rounds that follow. He was off in his own world yesterday, sleeping late, then practising at the National Tennis Centre while the draw went on with a bit of pretentious ceremony across the East River at the United Nations. Federer’s confidence could not be much higher than it was now after winning his 22nd consecutive tournament final by beating Andy Roddick in straight sets on the hardcourts at Cincinnati last Sunday, and remaining comfortably at No. 1 in the ATP rankings for the 82nd week in a row. Federer, the defending US Open champion and winner of his third straight Wimbledon title last month, knows he can always fall victim to injury, illness or the odd circumstance but there does not seem to be anyone with a realistic chance of beating the Swiss star through the quarterfinals. He is seeded to meet No. 5 Marat Safin in the semifinals, and Safin has been compromised recently by a balky knee. “Any draw for him is a good one,” Patrick McEnroe, the US Davis Cup captain and TV commentator, said of Federer. “For the men, it is Federer and everyone else.” No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the French Open champion from Spain, can meet No. 7 Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals. Nadal beat Agassi in Montreal recently for his ninth ATP title this year, tying him with Federer. “Andre will be happy with another shot against Nadal,” McEnroe said. Agassi, 35, might be happy to get that far after struggling with his sore back and sciatic pain down his leg the past few months. He lost in the first round of the French Open when his back injury flared up, skipped Wimbledon and won his first title in almost a year at Los Angeles last month before his back started hurting again. No. 4 Roddick appears to have an easy draw through to the semifinals, where he can meet Nadal or Agassi. Venus and Serena Williams landed in the same section of the women’s draw — setting them up for a possible fourth-round match — with the winner potentially facing favourite Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals. Though their father has suggested conspiracies against the sisters in the past, their seeded numbers for the year’s final Grand Slam event were drawn out of the silver winner’s cup in plain view of everyone in a UN auditorium, where the US Tennis Association was emphasising the international appeal of tennis. The players hail from around the globe and the tournament will be broadcast in about 170 countries. No. 8 Serena, still trying to find her form after recovering from injuries and showing up out of shape at Wimbledon, starts against a qualifier. No. 10 Venus opens against Japan’s Rika Fujiwara. If the sisters keep going until the fourth round, the winner of their duel will go against No. 4 Clijsters, who beat fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne to win the Rogers Cup on Sunday in Toronto and capture the US Open Series, that leads up to the year’s final Major. If Clijsters wins the Open, she will get double the $ 1.1 million first prize.
— AP |
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Roddick not ready to be written off
New York, August 25 After reaching the final at Wimbledon for a second consecutive year and having won four titles in 2005, however, the 22-year-old Roddick goes into the U.S. Open showing the kind of form that brought him the title in 2003 and the number one ranking. Victory in Washington kicked off his summer in style and his run to the final in Cincinnati, during which he beat Hewitt for only the second time in eight meetings, helped him to rise back to number four in the rankings. “That is very important,” Roddick said. “It is definitely not comfortable when the draw comes out and you are supposed to play either (Rafael) Nadal, Hewitt, (Roger) Federer or (Marat) Safin in the last eight.” At Flushing Meadows, the draw has given Roddick the possibility of facing fellow former champion Andre Agassi in the semifinals. His first big test could be against 13th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the last 16. Having split with coach Brad Gilbert at the end of last year, Roddick teamed up with another American, Dean Goldfine, and his hard work and dedication paid off with victories in San Jose, Houston, Queen’s and Washington. His huge serve and forehand remain his main weapons, but Roddick has added a subtlety to his game that had been lacking previously. The serve-and-volley is much more in evidence, as are patience and variety, particularly on the backhand. “When I was getting some grief earlier in the year for losing some close matches trying these things, I assured you guys that I was working on it and I was working hard,” he said in Cincinnati. “I wanted to be able to develop different options. Now it is coming to fruition and everybody is acting really surprised about it.” “I have put in a lot of work this year, fitness-wise, trying to work on different aspects of my game, knowing that it will come around some time.” “Now I have the confidence that they are going to work in matches. And so, you know, it looks like a huge transformation, but it is definitely a process.”
— Reuters |
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Sania makes winning start
New Delhi, August 25 Sania stood a good chance of winning the tournament as her nemesis, the number one seed, Akiko Morigami, was knocked out in the first round by unheralded Alexa Glatch, while second-seeded Anna Smashnova was shown the door by Lucie Safarova. Playing in her last warm-up tournament before the US Open — the final Grand Slam tournament of the year — Sania powered past 59th-ranked Peer yesterday to ease into the quarterfinals, where she would meet Italian Roberta Vinci, according to information received here today. Sania, who pulled out of the Rogers Cup in Toronto due to a muscle pull, was initially scrappy, giving Peer, who had beaten her in the last qualifying match of the Stanford Open, too many chances in the first set. But the Indian came back into her own as the set stretched to a tie-breaker and wrapped it 7-6 (7-4) to surge ahead. The second set turned out to be a mere formality as Sania dropped only one game to overrun Peer 6-1 and pocket the match in the 16-field tier-four tournament. Sania Mirza will face American Mashona Washington in the first round of the US Open while Prakash Amritraj and the Uberoi sisters — Shikha and Neha — are still in the hunt for a place in the main draw of the tournament, which gets underway on August 29. The draw pits Sania against local favourite Washington and if the Indian wins the match against the 56th-ranked American, she will run into 22nd-ranked Russian Dinara Safina, according to information received here. Meanwhile, in one of the biggest turnarounds in the first round qualifying matches yesterday, Shikha Uberoi — who made her debut for India in the Fed Cup this year — overcame a disastrous start to beat Yulia Beygelzimer of Ukraine 0-6, 7-5, 6-3.
— UNI |
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Geet Sethi storms into semifinals
New Delhi, August 25 The veteran cueist’s experience stood him in good stead as he conceded only one frame on his way to a morale-boosting win with a break of 61 in the fourth frame, according to information received here today. The third-seeded Indian began with a positive note, winning the first frame, but his Kuwaiti opponent bounced back, winning the next frame to draw parity. Coming out of his momentary inertia, Sethi won the third frame in style and though Tekrit tried to make life difficult for him, Sethi was irresistible towards the end and he pocketed the last frame with consummate ease. India’s challenge in the under-21 section had ended, with Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta crashing out of the tournament.
— UNI |
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Arjuna Award for Abhinn
New Delhi, August 25 Abhinn was today named as one of the recepients of the award in a press note issued by the Press Information Bureau, which admitted that the shuttler’s name had been omitted inadvertently.
— PTI |
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JCT edge out BSF
Chandigarh, August 25 The second goal for the mill men in the 40th minute was also scored by international Parveen Kumar. A cross from the left by Harish was neatly headed into the corner of the net by Parveen, making it 2-0 in favour of JCT. In the second half, BSF exerted pressure and fought hard to wipe out the deficit, but a goal eluded them. In the 75th minute, JCT had another good chance when Gyan Moin aimed a powerful shot, but the BSF goalie effected a fine save at the cost of a corner. Tomorrow, PSEB will square off with Punjab Police at Hoshiarpur.
— TNS |
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Bhopal on hockey’s comeback trail
Chandigarh, August 25 The new complex, spread over 100 acres, has two synthetic hockey playfields, besides a modern hostel to accommodate 144 athletes. One of the playfields would be floodlit, says Mr Adarsh Kumar Sharma, in charge of the Udhav Das Mehta (Bhai Ji) Central Regional Centre of the Sports Authority of India. The new international rules require that for holding any major FIH tournament, the venue must have two synthetic pitches with floodlights in at least one of them. The IHF has also stipulated that for holding the National Premier Hockey League, the synthetic pitches must have provision for floodlights. After Chennai, Bhopal will become the second centre with facilities for holding day and night games in hockey. Talking to The Tribune over telephone, Sharma said once the new hockey centre was commissioned, all major national camps would shift to Bhopal, the home of the Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup Hockey Tournament. There is a move to declare the new hockey campus at Bishenkhedi as a centre of excellence. Five hockey coaches of the Sports Authority of India have been already posted at the new centre. Aslam Sher Khan, who enjoys the rare distinction of playing almost at every position other than a goalkeeper in international hockey, winger Jalaluddin Rizvi, half back Inam-ur-Rehman, Sameer Dad are among the few internationals produced by Bhopal. Sharma said the sports complex at Upper lake had facilities for training in athletics, basketball, boxing, football and volleyball, besides various indoor games. |
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Indians win team
title
New Delhi, August 25 Prameela won the gold with a new Asian mark of 192 kg, which included efforts of 82 kg in the snatch and 110 kg in the clean and jerk, on the final day of the competition. Prameela had also won two silver and a bronze in the juniors’ 63 kg event. In the 69 kg sub-junior section, Premilla Devi won the silver by lifting 65 kg in snatch and 86 kg in clean and jerk, totalling 151 kg. Among the boys, B Rajkumar won the 77 kg gold. He lifted 280 kg for the overall gold medal. His performance in snatch (123 kg) earned him a silver while in the clean and jerk, his effort of 157 kg fetched him the gold.
— PTI |
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Overwhelming response to CSJA seminar
Chandigarh, August 25 The Chandigarh Sports Journalists’ Association (CSJA), an affiliate of the SJFI, is hosting this event to mark the 100th birth anniversary of hockey wizard, Major Dhyan Chand. The Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, would be the chief guest at the seminar in which the President of the Indian Hockey Federation, Mr K.P.S. Gill, will be the guest of honour. Several Olympians, including Ajit Pal Singh, Col Harcharan Singh, Balwinder Singh, Ramandeep Singh Grewal, Surinder Sodhi, Gurmail Singh, Sukhbir Singh Gill, Tarlochan Singh Bawa, Jagdeep Singh Gill, Rajbir Kaur, Ajit Singh Pargat Singh and Harmik Singh, besides several sports organisers, coaches, and promoters associated with the game had already confirmed their participation. Many former international players like Gurdishpal Singh, Gurdip Singh Pannu, Chanchal Randhawa, Sandeep Kaur, Bimal Parbagga, Narinder Singh Sodhi have evinced keen interest in the seminar. Sports goods manufacturers, organisers of hockey academies, sports officials from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, including those from the Olympic associations and state hockey associations will also participate in the deliberations. An exhibition of some rare hockey photographs by Ashok Vahie will also be organised on the occasion. Mr K. Arumugam will organise an
exhibition of books on hockey. — TNS |
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Partha in third round
Jaipur, August 25 |
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Veteran does India proud at Masters games
Patiala, August 25 Ajmer Singh, a former All-India inter-university champ and a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib, shone in the 65 plus age category in the hammer throw event at Edmonton. He has also represented the country in the pervious editions of the World Masters Games held at Turku (Finland) in 1991, Miandaki (Japan) in 1993, Buffalo (USA) in 1995, Durban (S. Africa) in 1997, Gateshead (UK) in 1999, Brisbane (Australia) in 2001 and Puerto Rico (USA) in 2003. Ajmer Singh, who has won several medals in the All India Police games during his prime, has also won the Maharaja Ranjit Singh award in 1981. |
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New York, August 25
In video (
