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Australia pip India for hockey Gold Cup
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Sania Mirza reacts after missing a shot against Tatiana Golovin of France during the semifinal of the AIG Japan Open in Tokyo on Saturday. Golovin won 6-2, 6-4 to enter the final. — Reuters
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World XI seek face-saving win
Jeev slips to tied 13th
Reports on Ganguly malicious: BCCI
Sachin Tendulkar and Indian coach Greg Chappell check in at Hotel Taj GVK in Chandigarh on Saturday.
— Tribune photo by Parvesh Chauhan
Chandigarh win in KV cricket
BSF lift Governor’s Gold Cup
National pool meet from October 14
Tushar in final
Lifters shine
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Australia pip India for hockey Gold Cup
New Delhi, October 8 The Australian girls displayed remarkable poise and fighting spirit to wipe out the arrears on resumption and turn the tables on the hosts, who promised much but delivered little. Australia triumphed in the penalty shootout 3-1 for an overall margin of 5-3 to keep the Gold Cup they had first won on their debut in 1996, defeating Korea in the final. India, eager to avenge their 0-2 loss to Australia in the last league match yesterday, got off the blocks with a racy performance, but once the Aussie girls started asserting themselves, they came a cropper. India could have registered an upset win over the Australians, who were fifth in the Athens Olympics last year, but they made a hash of a couple of sitters. Mamta Kharb deflected in the first goal in the sixth minute when Subhadra Pradhan’s free hit from the right was relayed to her by Sanggai Ibemhal Chanu. Eleven minutes later, Australia could have pulled off the equaliser off their second penalty corner, but Binita Toppo saved from the goal-line an Angie Skirving hit after custodian Helen Mary Innocent failed to stop it. India stepped up their aggressive posture and scored the second goal in the 26th minute off their second and last penalty corner. Mamta’s shot rebounded and Jasjeet Kaur, who had not moved from her penalty corner striking position, swept the ball high and into the goal to catch everyone by surprise. A 2-0 lead at the interval was more than what the Indians had bargained for, as Australia were superior in the exchanges, forcing six penalty corners in the first session. On resumption, India muffed a golden chance to consolidate the lead when Saba Anjum dilly-dallied from hand-shaking distance from the goal, and was dispossessed. A first-time shot by her could have found the mark, with the custodian out of position, but the medio overdribbled to allow the defenders to close in on her and foil. Let off the hook, Australia mounted an all-out attack and reduced the deficit when captain Nikki Hudson neatly swept in, off their seventh penalty corner, in the 20th minute. And two minutes later, Rebekka Sanders shot in off their eighth penalty corner to even the score 2-2. It was a remarkable feat by the Australian eves as they scored off penalty corners when it mattered the most, though in the entire tournament, they had a miserable scoring record, converting only four of the 49 penalty corners they earned, including 13 today. After 15 minutes of goal-less extra-time play, the tie-breaker was applied and Australia displayed their striking power with Suzie Faulkner, Nicole Arrold and Rebecca Sanders unerringly getting it right. Helen Mary had given India a dream start when she dived to her right to deflect Nagie Skirving’s opening shot. Mary effected another brilliant save by baulking captain Nikki Hudson, but the Indian strikers failed to cash in on the good work of the goalie. While Subhadra Pradhan hit the target to level the score 1-1, Jasjeet Kaur and Masira Surin aimed at custodian Rachel Imison and Mamta Kharb shot wide off the target. India thus finished second best for the third time, after sharing the title with the erstwhile Soviet Union in the inaugural edition in 1985. They finished fourth in the other three editions. |
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Sania loses to Golovin
Tokyo, October 8 Sania’s fine form in the tournament eluded her against the third seed as she went down 2-6, 4-6 in the tier III ATP-WTA tournament. Tatiana set up a summit clash with Czech Republic’s Nicole Vaidisova, who beat Russia’a Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-2. The Indian tennis star made a brave comeback from 0-5 down in the second set after being swept away in the first, but unforced errors once again came back to haunt her. An off-colour Sania, who upset Vera Zvonareva of Russia in a thrilling three-setter yesterday, ran out of steam in the first set as the Frenchwoman breezed through the first set. Egged by the cheering crowd, the 37-ranked Sania rallied from behind to give a scare to her opponent in the second set. Sania found her lethal power-packed forehand winners going and broke the 25-ranked Frenchwoman twice. After the brief rain interruption with Tatiana leading 5-2, Sania pocketed the next two games but a few unforced errors on crucial points halted her progress. Golovin took a comfortable 40-15 lead in the 10th game before Sania’s wide backhand on the third matchpoint handed over the match to Tatiana. “I don’t think I played bad. When I had two match points against me, I played like I had nothing to lose. I just wanted to get a game, and then I saw an opening,” said the 18-year-old Sania, the first Indian woman to win a WTA event. “At 5-4, it could have gone either way, but then I played a couple of loose shots,” she added. “Golovin was retrieving the balls so well. I started well, but then it got windy, and I think she adjusted to the conditions better than me. She was hitting winners and played a solid match.” Sania’s forehand found a special mention by Tatiana. “She hits her forehand cross so hard that they are difficult to hit back. I had to play my own game and somehow she started to make unforced errors but that’s how tennis goes.” In the other semifinal, Kirilenko, fresh from her first career title at the China Open two weeks ago, twice came back from a service break down in the first set, but the fourth seed fell 4-6 when she sent a forehand into the net. Vaidisova arrived here after winning her third career title at the Korea Open last weekend, while Golovin is seeking her first title in only her second appearance in a WTA final.
— PTI, AFP |
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World XI seek face-saving win
Melbourne, October 8 Having conceded the inaugural three-match series 2-0, it is a moment of reckoning for World XI, which comprises some of the biggest names in contemporary cricket, including India’s Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid. More than the defeat in the two matches, it is the manner in which the world’s stars capitulated that is raising doubts on whether the entire concept of pitting a string of stars against the top-ranked team should be persisted with. While Australia have used the opportunity to spring back from the Ashes debacle, the world team appears to be short on motivation and struggling to play as a unit. Players like Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis, superstars in their own right, have hugely disappointed as also the Indian duo of Sehwag and Dravid. Sehwag looked in ominous form last evening, slamming four fours in a go but once again the opener could not build on a splendid start. Dravid has also dented his image somewhat, failing to resurrect the innings after early setbacks. Despite the grim scenario in which his team finds itself in, World XI coach John Wright sought to put up a brave face, saying that there was too much pride at stake for his players to treat the match tomorrow as a dead rubber. “The players are obviously disappointed. But they are seeing the match tomorrow as another opportunity to turn the tables,” he said. Wright also sought to defend the concept and said, “I think the concept is very good. It does give a platform for something a bit unique and a bit different, provided it is not overdone.” However, the immediate concern of the coach must be the injury to England star Kevin Pietersen, who pulled his hamstring while fielding in the last over of the match, which World XI lost by 55 runs yesterday. Wright said although scans had shown the injury was not serious, a decision on his availability would be taken only by tomorrow morning. Australia also have an injury concern relating to Matthew Hayden’s replacement Simon Katich, who has returned the faith of the selectors with scores of 58 and 47. Katich has been diagnosed with groin strain and his condition is being monitored. Pace spearhead Glenn McGrath, who was rested yesterday, is expected to return to the squad, although the way the Aussies bundled out the fancied World XI batsmen, his services may not be needed at all. McGrath’s replacement Stuart Clark made the most of the chance, grabbing two wickets to announce his arrival on the international stage. While the Australians thrived in all departments, the performance of World X1 was mediocre, be it in batting, bowling or fielding, a fact reflected in the lopsided results of the two matches. Pollock had admitted after the match yesterday that his team failed to play together as a team and it remains to be seen whether he can help the players gel as a unit. Teams (from): Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Simon Katich, Damien Martyn, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Andrew Symonds, Cameron White, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken. World XI: Shaun Pollock (captain), Virender Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Shahid Afridi, Daniel Vettori, Shoaib Akhtar, Chris Gayle and Muttiah Muralitharan.
— PTI |
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Narain shines in the rain
Suzuka, October 8 Lady Luck continued to smile on the 28-year-old rookie Indian driver who showed remarkable car control in bringing his Jordan-Toyota EJ15B home on a wet Suzuka circuit ahead of new world champion Fernando Alonso as well as the dethroned Michael Schumacher. Heavy downpour, for the second consecutive day, meant that Bridgestone tyre-shod cars were bound to do well than their Michelin rivals but it still needed gutsy driving from Karthikeyan. “I feel like I have really done my job today under these severe conditions. Driving was tricky, almost like a gamble. It required a real combination of car-control and self-control. But in the end it worked well,” Karthikeyan said. “I am hoping for a wet race tomorrow to show what we can do with this car,” the Indian added. That there was not much difference in the performance of Karthikeyan and the two Ferraris who, too, drive on Bridgestone puts the Indian’s show in perspective. In fact, while Rubens Barrichello was only half a second quicker than Karthikeyan, the seven-time champion Schumacher qualified at the 14th place. “Eleventh on the grid is my best qualifying result of the season. I was 12th at the first Australian Grand Prix. This showed the trend,” he said after the session.
— PTI |
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Jeev slips to tied 13th
Tokyo, October 8 Jeev, who had rounds of 65 and 71 and was tied second overnight after the first two days, struggled throughout the day and managed just one birdie against three bogeys. Randhawa tied 36th
San Francisco: Jyoti Randhawa played a steady par round of 70 to be tied at the 36th place after the second round of the American Express Championship at the par-70 Harding Park Golf Course here. The 2002 Asian Tour number one carded three birdies against as many bogeys in the second round of the elite 71-man field battling for a total purse of $7.5 million. Randhawa’s two-day total of 140 is seven shots behind halfway leader Colin
Montgomerie, who added a 69 to his opening 64. Randhawa had birdies on fourth, 10th and 15th holes and he dropped shots on the first, sixth and the 17th.
— PTI |
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Reports on Ganguly malicious: BCCI
Mumbai, October 8 However, some news reports today said Ganguly had decided beforehand not to play in the Challenger tournament before meeting Joshi and Gloster, who had no option but to grant him a 10-day rest period as recommended by Kolkata-based physician Kalyan Mukherjee, who had examined him earlier. Terming these reports as a “figment of their imagination” in spite of the Board’s best efforts to provide the media with a factual picture, the BCCI’s executive secretary-in-charge, Ratnakar Shetty, said these kind of reports also harmed the players’ interests. Ganguly’s tennis elbow problem does not seem as bad as Sachin’s, Dr Joshi told PTI today when contacted.
— PTI |
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Cricketers arrive for Challenger series
Chandigarh, October 8 Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, and former Test player Sandeep Patil and many more cricket stars like Parthiv Patel, Laxmipathy Balaji, S. Sriram, Romesh Powar, Venu Gopal, Zaheer Khan etc, also turned up here to participate in the day-night one-day Kingfisher Challenger Trophy, starting from October 10-13 at PCA stadium, Mohali. Sachin, who will be seen in action after a long lay-off due to injury, went straight to his room and did not come for practice at PCA later in the evening. Interestingly, all cricketers refused to talk to mediapersons. Mohammad Kaif, the captain of India Seniors team, and VVS Laxman, India A’s skipper, who could not arrive today, will come tomorrow. Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan, Venu Gopal, Yuvraj Singh and Yousaf Pathan practised at the nets of the PCA stadium in the evening. Tomorrow the practice session will start at 3 pm at PCA stadium. The cricketers are also expected to practice under the floodlights. The day-night matches will be telecast live on Zee Sports. |
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Chandigarh win in KV cricket
Patiala, October 8 Ahmedabad region were all out for 82 while Chandigarh rattled up the score losing five wickets. At Budha Dal Public School, Jammu region beat Jabalpur by four wickets. Jabalpur won the toss and batting first scored 112 runs with Ankit Kumar playing a good knock of 80. In reply, Jammu region reached the target losing six wickets. At the MES ground, Patna region, after electing to bat, managed to score 126 all out with opening batsman Sudhir scoring 46. In reply Dehradun region were bundled out for 123 leaving Patna region win the match by three runs. In other matches, Lucknow region downed Jammu by 19 runs while Bangalore region beat Bhubhneshwar region by 33 runs. |
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BSF lift Governor’s Gold Cup
Gangtok, October 8 The BSF had last won the tournament in 2002 defeating Arambagh Krira Sangh of Bangladesh. The winners, however, had to struggle hard for victory in the tightly contested showdown which saw the TFA snatching a half time lead through Leister Fernandez who struck in the 35th minute. The long awaited goal for the BSF came in the dying minutes of the game as Santosh Kujur equalised with a grounder off a goalmouth melee. Naoba Singh shot home for the TFA in the ensuing penalty shootout whereas Raghbir Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Samrat Chaudhry found
the target for the BSF to walk away with the trophy. — PTI |
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National pool meet from October 14
Chandigarh, October 8 According to Mr D. S. Bains, president of the Punjab Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA), six tables have been exclusively imported for the event.“There is tremendous enthusiasm among players all across India for this championship and the entries are expected to cross the 150 mark. Hence, the association has decided to increase the number of tables so that the players who are coming from faraway places do not have to spend too many days at the championship and get inconvenienced, even though it means further costs for the PBSA,” Mr Bains stated. The championship is being held under the aegis of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India and the players to represent India in all international events next year.
— TNS |
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Tushar in final
Jalandhar, October 8 Playing fluent baseline shots and serving well, Tushar got the better of Jalil Khan 10-7. In a men’s singles quarterfinal, Manav Dhawan of Amritsar upset Rashid Malik, the non-playing captain of the Pakistan Davis Cup team, last night. Manav played a superb serve-and-volley game to overcome Malik 8-6. In the men’s above-45 singles quarterfinals, Dr Hardeep Oberoi beat Dr SS Bawa 6-0, Jasbir Nayyar beat HV Birla 6-3 and Inan-ul-Haq (Pak) defeated AK Kaushal 6-2. In the boys under-14 semifinals, Chandril Sood of Delhi defeated Digvijay 9-7, while his brother Lakshat Sood beat Tushar 9-2. |
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Lifters shine
New Delhi, October 8 Prasmita Mangraj lifted 190 kg for the top honours in the 58 kg class. India won the top two positions in the 63 kg category as B Premavalli’s total lift of 194 kg earned her the gold and Inorani Chanu won the silver by lifting 191 kg. Nansita Devi (69 kg) and P Shailaja (75 kg) hoisted 195 kg and 239 kg respectively to win gold medals and add to India’s medal tally, according to a press note issued by the Indian Weightlifting Federation here. In the men’s category, G Sandeep Kumar won the silver in the 85 kg section.
— PTI |
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