Sunday, September 27, 1998
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S P O R T | Sunday, September 27, 1998 |
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Sachin's record ton in
India's win Shiva
recalled for Rupesh shocks Bob AHMEDABAD, Sept 26 — Unseeded Rupesh Shah of India caused yet another upset defeating ninth ranked Bob Close of England 1576-663 to enter the third round of the Florsheim World Professional Billiards Championship here tonight. |
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 India's Mahesh Bhupati in action against Tim Henman during the Davis Cup match between England and India at the Nottingham Tennis Centre on Friday. Henman won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 — AP/PTI Paes-Bhupathi Sweden
book Davis |
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Keen
competition in Special Olympics Asian
Games: India, Japan in same group FIFA
threatens suspensions over new league Wadekar
prefers allrounders |
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Sachin's record ton in India's win BULAWAYO, Sept 26 (PTI) — Sachin Tendulkar blasted a world record 18th one-day century, cracking an unbeaten 127, to guide India to a crushing eight-wicket win over Zimbabwe with 7.4 overs to spare at the Queen’s Club ground here today. The stalwart came up with an impeccable knock to overhaul former West Indian opener Desmond Haynes’ record of 17 centuries to even overshadow the superb manner in which India returned to their winning ways after the Sahara Cup debacle. Tendulkar, who had equalled the mark of Haynes with his match-winning 128 against Sri Lanka in the Independence Cup final at Colombo on July 7, achieved the grand distinction two matches later his 198th one-day appearance, and fittingly struck the winning boundary. A breezy Rahul Dravid (64 - 98, 3 x 4) joined hands with Tendulkar (100 - 106 b, 10 x 4, 1 x 6) as they rattled up 180 runs for the second wicket and guided India to 216 for two in 42.2 overs after medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar (3/42) and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (3/36) helped restrict Zimbabwe to 213 (all out) in exactly 50 overs after Mohd Azharuddin won the toss. Tendulkar’s 18th hundred has come two short of his 200th appearance. He also has 43 fifties with an aggregate of 7253 runs and an average of 41.9. Haynes had played 238 matches, scoring 8648 runs at an average of 41.37. Tendulkar’s knock came as the icing on the cake after leg-spinner Anil Kumble had earlier become the first spinner in one-day history to capture 200 wickets. The 27-year-old Karnataka bowler, in his 147th match, reached the milestone when he bowled Garry Brent for nought. The target of 214 was never going to be easy to defend on warm conditions on a slow wicket devoid of any life. Tendulkar was lucky to survive twice in his innings, two lofted chances at mid-on and mid-off against fast bowler Mbangwa when he was on five and 10. But Tendulkar’s century lifted the game many notches to the joy of the 7000-odd crowd. He never let the slow nature of the wicket affect his rate of scoring, his 50 arriving off only 43 deliveries with eight fours and arriving at his century with a towering six off Garry Brent. His century stand with Dravid came off only 103 deliveries as there was no stopping the Indians despite the early departure of Saurav Ganguly (11). All Azhar’s worries about loose bowling and sloppy fielding during the Sahara Cup were gone as the Indians showed no ill-effects despite having to travel half the way across the globe from Canada to home and back. Earlier, skipper and
left-handed opener Alistair Campbell struck a fluent
half-century (53 - 41 b, 9 x 4) and shared a 59-run third
wicket stand with Andy Flower (30), but Indian bowlers
applied the breaks by taking wickets at regular
intervals. Craig Evans (34), Heath Streak (23), Paul
Strang (22) and Andy Whittal (29) made contributions, but
it only helped them past the 200-run mark. |
Victory mattered more: Tendulkar BULAWAYO, Sept 26 (PTI) — Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar down-played his world record for most number of one-day centuries in the opening tie against Zimbabwe saying that India’s victory mattered more. "I have never rated my hundreds above the team’s performance," said Tendulkar after he compiled an unbeaten 127 to spur India to an eight-wicket win. It was Tendulkar’s 18th century in his 198th one-day international match which surpassed Desmond Haynes’ world record of 17 centuries. "For me it is a special pleasure even if I score only 10 runs and the team is a winner than the other way around," said Tendulkar. Commenting on his knock, Tendulkar said the wicket was nice to bat on and once he was through with the first 15 overs, he was intent on consolidating the team’s total. Of the two chances he offered, he said: "It happened simply because I wanted to get off to a good start. "It is always easier for the rest of the batsmen once the team is off to a flier, more so when the target is as small as it was today." Tendulkar praised Rahul Dravid for his fine innings of 64. "He batted alright. Indeed, he was batting alright all this while, there was nothing wrong with his form as such." Indian skipper mohd Azharuddin was all praise for Tendulkar and said it was a top-class innings. Azhar also singled out off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for his fine bowling effort. "He was a valuable asset as a bowler in the middle," Azhar said of the Punjab spinner. Asked whether those two chances — at 5 and 29 — came because he had mistimed them? Tendulkar said "No. Instead I feel I timed them very well. That, perhaps, why they were spilled." Tendulkar’s struck 10 fours and a six facing 130 balls to make 127. This hundred was coming all this while even though there has been a break of three months since he last had a hundred in the final of the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka in July. "That is only because I hardly played any game all this while, only that solitary match in the Sahara Cup," said Tendulkar. How physically alert did he feel going into the day’s match? "Not much, really," he said. "I was a bit tired from all the travelling of the past few days but it came all right in the end." One has seen him employing the paddle shot usefully in matches recently. "Yes, I have been practicing on it," said Tendulkar. "It has proved productive but I tend to use this stroke more in one-dayers." About his dream run this year, Tendulkar said he just wanted to keep his fingers crossed and hoped they served his team’s cause. Did he tell Rahul Dravid
anything during his innings, Tendulkar said: "No, I
just said him to stick to his natural game. He was
struggling to score for sometime now and I just wanted
him to relax and get on with it," replied Tendulkar. |
Paes-Bhupathi duo wins doubles NOTTINGHAM, Sept 27 (PTI) — World third ranked pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi came up trumps in two nail-biting tie-breakers to beat the British duo of Tim Henman and Neil Broad and bring India back into reckoning in the Davis Cup world group qualifying playoff at the tennis centre courts here today. Combining well and putting
in a display of superb power play with deft placements,
Paes and Bhupathi got the better of the British pair 7-6
(7-2), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) to narrow England’s lead to
2-1 in the crucial Davis Cup match. His British counterpart David Lloyd said "the win today surely has fired up the Indians and we expect a tough and nervous opening singles tomorrow." India’s number one Paes takes on top British player Tim Henman in the first reverse singles and Bhupathi would have to battle the fancied Greg Rusedski, world ranked 11 in the final rubber. However, Lloyd said "we are confident as India have to win both the reverse singles and we only one." The doubles clash today after India lost both the singles yesterday produced exhilarating tennis before a partisan sell-out crowd. Striking a good rhythm, Paes and Bhupathi broke the Britons in the sixth game of the opening set to take a 3-2 lead but the duo returned complements breaking Bhupathi’s serve to draw level 3-3. The games then went with serves and the tie-breaker was applied. Paes, initiating the tie breaker, came up with a good serve to make it 1-0 in India’s favour. However, Henman came up with two sizzling aces to make it 2-1. The Indians then rallied well on Bhupathi’s serve with some good cross court placements to make it 3-2 and increased it to 4-2. The crack doubles pair then raced to a 7-2 lead to clinch the first set in India’s favour. The second set saw the Indian’s at their meekest, with both repeatedly double faulting and netting returns as the home crowd started pitching loudly for Henman and Broad. To top a bad display, Paes and Bhupathi repeatedly ran into each others’ way, clashing rackets in confusion. The hosts duo capitalising on the visitors lapses broke them in the first and fourth games to take the set at 6-3 and draw parity at one-all after the second set. In the decider, the games went with the serves till the 12th game when the Englishmen came within a whisker of clinching the duel. Henman and Broad ran up three break points on Leander’s serve. But each time the Indian rallied well to bounce back. First down 30-40 Leander came up with a good serve to Henman. But the Britons pulled ahead again as the Indian duo collided while trying to rush to the net. The highly-rated Indians survived that and saved two more match points before Paes’s powerful serve was netted by Broad to make it 6-6 to take the match into the tie-breaker. India went into the lead as Bhupathi’s measured lob over the heads of the Englishmen dropped just inside the line. Bhupathi then served well to increase the lead to 2-0. But Henman and Broad neutralised his efforts making it 2-2. But the never-say-die Paes got his act together and made it 4-2. The British duo again struck back to reduce the margin to 3-5. However, it was India’s day as Broad netted a return and India went up 6-3. Bhupathi then came up with a superb return of Henman’s serve to signal India’s victory. Henman summed it up later saying: "They brought off some great shots at the right time and I think they raised their game fractionally in both tie-breakers." Yesterday India had lost
both their singles matches with Paes going down to Greg
Rusedski 6-2 3-6 6-3 2-6 9-11 and Bhupathi losing to
Henman 6-4 3-6 3-6 3-6. |
Shiva recalled for Irani Cup tie MUMBAI, Sept 26 (PTI) — Leg spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan amazingly forced his way back into national reckoning after a gap of over a decade when he was named in the 14-member Rest of India squad to take on Ranji champions Karnataka in the season-opening Irani Cup clash at Bangalore from October 1 to 5. The Rest team, led by Lanky Hyderabad batsman V.V.S. Laxman, also has some surprise exclusions with the notable being Rajasthan opener Gagan Khoda who led India ‘A’ on the tour to Pakistan early this year. Selection committee chairman Ajit Wadekar said the recall of 33-year-old Sivaramakrishnan, who has switched over from Tamil Nadu to Baroda this season but who has played only one Ranji match in the last four seasons, was prompted by reports that he bowled exceedingly well in the camp held at Chennai in August under the supervision of Aussie consultant Bob Simpson. "We were told he was bowling extremely well in local cricket and had impressed Sachin Tendulkar, (skipper) Mohammed Azharuddin and Simpson during the camp", Wadekar said. Rest of India team: V.V.S. Laxman (Hyderabad, capt.), Amol Muzumdar (Mumbai), Jyoti Yadav (UP), Jatin Paranjpe (Mumbai), Rohan Gavaskar (Bengal), S. Sharath (TN), M.S.K. Prasad (wk, Andhra), Nikhil Chopra, Robin Singh jr (both Delhi), Paras Mhambrey (Mumbai), N. Madhukar (Andhra), L. Siveramakrishnan (Baroda), Sanjay Raul (Orissa) and Rajesh Pawar (Mumbai). Sivaramakrishnan, who incidentally went out of the national scene after playing in the 1987 World Cup at home, was picked because "we were basically looking for a match-winner with our main focus trained on the next World Cup in England", Wadekar explained. Wadekar, who has taken over the mantle from Kishen Rungta, added that the selectors wanted to watch first-hand how Siva, who is reportedly still very fit, can perform at the top domestic level. "He was instrumental in India winning the world championship of cricket in 1985", Wadekar recalled. "Our main goal is the World Cup and we have a number of tournaments like the West Indies ‘A’ team’s tour to India and Challenger Trophy to try out various players", Wadekar said and added that the committee’s main aim was to reduce the list of probables for the World Cup to 20 or 22 as early as possible. Wadekar said the team selected for the Irani Cup was good enough for the longer version of the game. Apart from Khoda some other India ‘A’ squad members missing from the Irani Cup line-up include Mumbai leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule and discarded India all-rounder Hrishikesh Kanitkar — who were all considered for selection, according to Wadekar. On Khoda’s omission,
Wadekar said the selectors were eager to try out Uttar
Pradesh opener Yadav. |
Rupesh shocks Bob Close AHMEDABAD, SepT 26 (PTI, UNI) — Unseeded Rupesh Shah of India caused yet another upset defeating ninth ranked Bob Close of England 1576-663 to enter the third round of the Florsheim World Professional Billiards Championship here tonight. The 25-year-old local lad, who had a match average of 42.6, notched up as many as four century breaks in the second session to beat the 63-year-old veteran. Rupesh started off with the yellow ball after losing the toss and got 125, 63, 133, 93, 54 and 80 breaks in the first session to lead by 670-349. He then followed it up with breaks of 96, 102, 141, 102, 68 and 153 in the second to sail into the third round. Shah, who had beaten 30th ranked Mumbai cueist Satish Amarnath yesterday, will take on seventh seeded Devendra Joshi of India in the pre-quarter-finals. In another second round match, former three-time world amateur champion and 13th ranked Michael Ferreira of India crushed compatriot and 31st ranked Chandresh Shah 1228-900 after leading 594-439 in the first session. Mumbai-based Ferreira had breaks of 56, 82, 74 and 90 in the match while Chandresh Shah got breaks of 63, 50 and 51. Ferreira will now play fifth seeded Robby Foldvari of Australia in the pre-quarter-finals tomorrow. Earlier, Chris Shutt of England touched his form in time to crack a hundred break twice to stop a gallant Mukesh Rehani of India in the second round. In a slow-paced game with each making less than 75 visits in four hours, Shutt hit 105 and 147 in the last 20 minutes to win by 173 points. Till then he had his best as 46 in the last session of two hours. He compiled 1,269 to Delhi player Rehani’s 1,096. Also joining Shutt in the third round were his fellow countryman Peter Sheehan and two Indians Nalin Patel and Arun Agrawal. Sheehan crushed Irishman Eugene Hughes whom he was meeting for the first time in a tournament by 935 points, Patel overwhelmed Ismat Malik by 1,177 points and in the process also cued the highest in the two-day event-a-triple hundred break, and Arun Agrawal surprised Alok Kumar also of India who is behind only to Geet Sethi in the Asian camp, by 172 points. Now Sheehan takes on third seeded Briton Peter Gilchrist, Patel meets holder Mike Russell, Shutt faces Ashok Shandilya of India and Agrawal plays sixth ranked David Causier in the third round. Results of the second
round: A. Agrawal (India) b Alok Kumar (India) 1,155-983,
N. Patel (India) b I. Malik (India) 1,739-562, P. Sheehan
(Eng) b E. Hughes (Ireland) 1,726-791, C. Shutt (Eng) b
M. Rehani (Eng) 1,269-1,096. |
Sweden book third straight STOCKHOLM, Sept 26 (Reuters) — Defending champions Sweden booked a spot in their third consecutive Davis Cup final today as Jonas Bjorkman and Nicklas Kulti kept their two-year unbeaten doubles record intact. Today’s victory gave the holders an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Spain in their world group semifinal. Bjorkman and Kulti assured Sweden of the victory beating Javier Sanchez and Julian Alonso 6-2 6-2 6-2, deflating Spain’s hopes of reaching their first final in 31 years. Six-times champions Sweden will take on the winner of the other semifinal between the USA and Italy in December’s final. The Italians were leading 2-0 after the opening singles yesterday. "This win shows a lot about the Swedes and our team. This year we have used seven singles players and that’s fantastic," said Swedish captain Carl-Axel Hageskog. "It doesn’t matter who we meet, the players are used to changing courts and we will deal with that when it comes." The Spanish pair tried to take the offensive from the star but failed to put together a sustained attack with Sanchez losing four of his six service games. Bjorkman, who opened the tie with a win over Alex Corretja in the singles yesterday, kept the Spaniards off balance while Kulti proved the perfect complement, ripping baselinne winners seemingly at will. The first set went with serve for the first four games. Then the Swedes took four games in a row to wrap up the set in just 23 minutes. The second set followed a similar path with two breaks of serve. Seizing on several unforced errors, Bjorkman and Kulti broke at the start of the final set and never looked back. "They are the masters of this court. Today we could not do anything. The way they played today, they will be tough to beat," said Spanish captain Manolo Santana. Just as he had done in the quarter-final, Bjorkman raised his game when it counted the most. Coming into the match with Corretja, ranked six places above him at number seven, Bjorkman had been struggling to find his form. But the affable Swede managed to run his Davis Cup singles record to 10 wins in 13 tries with an impressive win yesterday he followed up that performance with today’s triumph, his 14th win in 16 doubles matches. "We knew it was going to be tough in the singles, and they were. Today, we had weaker opponents," Bjorkman said. "This victory means my season will be a bit longer, but I think it is positive that we once again are in the final. For me, it’s important that I continued to play better," he said. Spain came into the tie riding high with Corretja teaming up with world number five Carlos Moya. Both had played strongly in the U.S. Open, giving rise to optimism that Spain’s image a fish out of water on faster courts had been drowned for good. Aussies in elite group TOWNSVILLE, Australia:
Former champion Australia found their way back into the
Davis Cup world group after taking an unbeatable 3-0 lead
over Uzbekistan in their qualifying tie today. The Woodies' victory gave Australia an unassailable lead in the best-of-five tie after Patrick Rafter and Jason Stoltenberg had both won their singles matches yesterday. The result means that
Australia, knocked out in this year's world group first
round by Zimbabwe, will return to the elite group for
next year's competition. But the pair, who have always put the Davis Cup ahead of their personal ambitions, have not lost a match playing for Australia in almost five years. "It's great to win 3-0" Woodforde said. "We were favourites going in but we were always going to be nervous." Rafter and Stoltenberg will return to court today to face Ogorodov and Vadim Kutsenko in the reverse singles. Russia take 3-0 lead OSAKA, Japan (AFP): UP-and-coming teenager Marat Safin teamed up with Yevgeny Kafelnikov to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead for Russia in the Davis Cup tennis world group qualifying tie against Japan today. Yesterday Kafelnikov put Russia one-one, beating Goichi Motomura 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3 and Safin was leading one set and 3-1 over Japan’s top player Takao Suzuki when rain halted the contest. The Japanese had known their only chance was to beat the Russian second player twice to earn a berth in the world group for the first time in 13 years. But 18-year-old Mafin, who reached the US Open fourth round earlier this month, never made a mistake to slip away his match, winning the postponed singles 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 6-3. Kafelnikov, the 1996 French Open champion, teamed up with Mafin to hammer the nails into the Japanese coffin by scoring a 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-2 victory over Suzuki and Motomura. The reverse singles matches would be played tomorrow on the hard court of the Utsubo Tennis Centre in Osaka. It was the first time Japan and Russia faced each other in the Davis Cup. Kafelnikov and Safin
crashed to the USA 2-3 in the world group first round
this year, while Suzuki and Motomura pulled off an upset
victory over New Zealand in the Asia-Oceania Zone group I
second round. |
Asian Games: India, Japan in same group NEW DELHI, Sept 26 (PTI) — India have been put along with next World Cup co-hosts Japan in group ‘C’ for the preliminary round of the Asian Games men’s football competition, as per the provisional entries received by the organisers. Lowly Yemen are the third country in the group the league matches of which will be played at Trang, according to the draw made in the presence of Asian Football Confederation general secretary Peter Velappan in Bangkok yesterday. The Bangkok Asian Games organising committee has received entries from 27 countries — 11 more than the previous games in Hiroshima - which were divided into eight groups of three and four teams, a press note said today. The preliminary round matches will be held at eight different venues in Thailand, which will be watched by an estimated four billion people all over the continent, the note said. Asian power South Korea are in group a which also includes Vietnam and Turkmenistan while Iran are locked in with Kazakhstan in group H. United Arab Emirates and strong contenders North Korea are in group E. In hockey, arch rivals India and Pakistan have been clubbed together in the same group for the preliminary round. India and defending champions Pakistan have been put in group B along with China, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and hosts Thailand in the Games starting on December 6, according to the draw conducted in Bangkok on Thursday. Another strong team South Korea are placed in a relatively easy group which includes Commonwealth Games silver medallists Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Japan, Sri Lanka and Singapore, a press note said here yesterday. The draws for all nine team events of the games were made in the presence of the Thai Deputy Premier and Chairman, Bangkok Asian Games Organising Committee, Mr Bhichai Rattakul, and top representatives of the Olympic Council of Asia. Both India and Pakistan are top contenders for the gold medal in the Asian Games after their teams fared badly in the Utrecht World Cup in May. India came up with a relatively better performance in the Commonwealth Games. In the women’s
section, India are placed in group ‘A’ along
with favourites South Korea, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. |
FIFA threatens suspensions over new league ZURICH, Sept 26 (Reuters) — Hard-line FIFA yesterday threatened national associations, clubs and players with suspension if they linked up with any proposed European super league. FIFA said in a statement it would use every means at its disposal to prevent any formation of a new league outside its auspices or those of UEFA, European soccer’s governing body. "Soccer’s principles are under attack by commercial companies, with the agreement of certain prestigious clubs, which intend primarily to make huge financial gains," said the statement issued by the executive committee. "One of the aims of FIFA, as stipulated in its statutes, is to control every type of football, taking whatever steps are appropriate to prevent infringement, improper practices and abuse," it continued. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the steps would include banning national associations, clubs and players taking part in any new league from all international competitions. FIFA periodically suspends national associations from time to time for non-payment of subscriptions or fines, but it could run into legal difficulties with the European Union if it tried to suspend a national association on account of a club’s involvement with a proposed league outside its control. The matter would most likely be decided by the European court and as UEFA have seen in the past regarding decisions like the Bosman ruling over freedom of contract and movement, the soccer authorities are sometimes not as powerful as they might like to think they are. But Mr Blatter said he would head an ad-hoc committee that would meet with the EU to discuss the development but still forcibly underlined FIFA’s hard-line attitude. "The last issue FIFA would have, would be to suspend the national association that the club is a part of," said Mr Blatter. "If the national associations are suspended then all the clubs are suspended. The principle of solidarity would prevail and everyone would come back to the family." Using the analogy of the family, Mr Blatter described the organisers of the new league as homewreckers and carpetbaggers out for only financial gain. The new league is being proposed by a Milan-based media sales group called Media Partners who are proposing that an initial 18-club league is formed and starts competing in the 2000-01 season. "These entities trying to enter the FIFA family and then attempting to lift out of our family the best, the most talented, is not acceptable to our moral approach to football," said Mr Blatter. "I am of the opinion that we must show we are in charge of football. The FIFA executive committee has the responsiblity to make sure that no abuses come in that can damage the game. We must be very strong and very harsh showing the power of FIFA — showing that we are the governing body and we will tell you how to do it." Mr Blatter said it would not engage diretly in talks with Media Partners but would communicate through its member associations Two members of the FIFA executive, Mr Chuck Blazer of the USA and Mr Slim Aloulou of Tunisia will join the UEFA task force put together to neutralize the threat of a breakaway league. UEFA are expected to
outline their proposals to head off the threat of the
super league when their executive committee meets in
Lisbon at the beginning of October. |
Punjab
Cricket Club score easy win CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — In a low scoring encounter Punjab Cricket Club outclassed PSEB XI by nine wickets in the opening match of the fifth JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, today. The match started an hour late due to wet outfield and as such the match was reduced to 45 overs a side. The Punjab Cricket Club skipper Harvinder Singh won the toss and rightly decided to field first. The decision paid dividends as Harvinder Singh trapped Munish Joshi lbw in front of the wicket. Sukhwinder Tinku who was shaping up well was caught behind off Reetinder Sodhi. The PSEB team further lost two wickets as Sanjeev Kapooria was caught behind trying to cut a short ball while Lakhbir Singh was run out. The highlight of the innings was an excellent spell by left-arm spinner Navdeep Singh, who bowled on a tight line and length. Sandeep Kohli was bowled by a gem of a delivery which came in with the arm. Rajesh Sekhri was beaten by the flight and was caught and bowled. Navdeep with a spell of 9-1-17-2 was adjudged Man of the Match. The PSEB team could manage a partly 100 runs and were bowled out in the 37th over of the innings: Ravneet Ricky and Reetinder Sodhi who opened the innings for Punjab Cricket Club started on a confident knock and were involved in a partnership of 98 runs. Ravneet scored a fluent 54 runs off 75 balls which included 5 hits to the fence. Reetinder Sodhi played a sedate knock of 35 runs which came off 97 balls and included two fours and one six. The target was achieved easily in the 29th over of the innings. Tomorrow Chandigarh XI
will face PUNCOM XI in the second quarter-final of the
tournament which will also be played at the PCA Stadium,
Mohali. The match begins at 9 a.m. |
Shiv Prakash, Arjun Singh leaders BANGALORE, Sept 26 (PTI)
— Overnight leader Feroz Ali, bothered by a back
injury and pulled shoulder muscle, had to surrender the
lead to Shiv Prakash and Arjun after the third round of
the Rs 5 lakh McDowell’s Centenary Open Golf
Tournament at Bangalore Golf Club course here today. He aggregated two-under 211 for 54 holes and fell to joint fourth with Mhow’s Devendra Patel, who had a good round of three-under 68. Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar looked like making a charge, but was stopped mid-way when his second shot on the 12th hole went out-of-bounds. He finished the day at one-under 70 and was in third place with a tally of three-under 210. Moving up the leaderboard was the familiar Shiv Prakash, who found his form again after a none-too-impressive second round and played three-under 68 to tally five-under 208 the same as Delhi’s Arjun Singh, who recovered from his short-game blues in the front nine to hit four birdies during his return journey and submitted a two-under 69 card. Arjun Singh’s struggle with his short game continued as he made back-to-back bogies on the 6th and 7th holes and was two-over at the turn. But, thereafter, he tightened his grips to start with a huge 25-footer birdie putt on the 11th. He then added birdies on the 12th, 15th and 16th (another huge 15-feet birdie putt) and ended two-under 69. Shiv Prakash climbed back into the leader’s spot with the help of six birdies and three bogies. He was level-par after the 13th, where he made a three-putt bogey from the edge of the green, but then conjured up a good finish with birdies on the 14th, 17th and 18th holes. In the amateur section
David D’Souza shot a creditable two-over 73 to tally
16-over 229 and opened a five-strike lead over his
nearest rival Nawab Singh. |
Shivalik
Club record 3-1 victory CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — Shivalik Club, Chandigarh, outclassed Chandigarh Police 3-1 in the inaugural tie of the 28th All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament being organised by Rock Rovers, Chandigarh, which got off to a colourful start at the Sector 42 hockey stadium here today. The winners led by a solitary goal at the breather. The match, which remained a mediocre affair, however saw the young Shivalik lads holding a distinct edge. The margin of victory could have been more had the Chandigarh Police goalkeeper, Balwinder Singh, not brought off some fine saves. The match was hardly eight minutes old when Shivalik Club took the lead following a penalty corner. Off the subsequent push,the ball came to Sarabjeet Singh who gave a quick pass to an unmarked Rajpal. Rajpal's hit from hand-shaking distance gave the Chandigarh Police custodian no chance and Shivalik Club were ahead by one goal. Before the breather,Shivalik Club got some more chances to consolidate the lead but some wayward hitting by Prabhjot Singh coupled with fine saves by the rival custodian denied the winners an opportunity to add to their tally. On changing ends, Shivalik Club were once again in command of the proceedings.In the 39th minute Lakhwinder made it 2-0 by converting a penalty stroke which was awarded when Sarabjeet Singh was stick-checked by a rival inside the 'D'. Two minutes later Lakhwinder added another goal following a penalty corner to make it 3-0 in favour of Shivalik Club. Chandigarh Police were lucky to score a consolation goal and reduce the margin when the ball accidentally deflected into the goal following a hit by Ashok Kumar in the 45th minute. Towards the end the match was marred by an unsavoury incident when Surinder Singh of Chandigarh Police and Harwant Kumar of Shivalik Club were involved in a scuffle but umpire Dharamvir Singh promptly flashed the green card and saved the situation from taking an ugly turn. Earlier the tournament was
inaugurated by Mr Chander Shekar, IG, Punjab Police, and
senior vice-president of the Indian Hockey Federation.
Tomorrow's fixtures: Shivalik Club v Ropar Hawks --1.30
p.m.; Chandigarh XI v EME Jalandhar — 3 p.m. |
Keen competition in Special
Olympics CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — Festivities apart, some fierce competitions were witnessed on the second day of the third Special Olympics National Games here today. Competitions in almost all events began today. Orignisational problems apart, most of the events were conducted as per schedule. Races, jumps, throws brought out the best of the special athletes. In fact, track and field has attracted maximum participants. Of 11 disciplines, more than 50 per cent participants are in track and field alone. In some of the events, where participation is large, there are more than one heats and each heat is persumed as a final and medals are presented at the end of each of them. In team events, the situation is slightly different. In some sports, participation is limited. The conduct officials, including referees and umpires, have at times to overlook certain infringements and violations in the interest of continuity of game and to encourage the competitors. After a game of handball last evening, some of the Maharashtra girls, who lost to Bengal, broke down for they never expected to lose in one-sided game. In one of the track and field events, one of competitors was not traceable much after his event had ended. Some of the special athletes with hearing impairments have to be guided and brought to starting lines at the actual call from announcers' table. Late last evening, special athletes from Philippines were waiting to be called for participation. But a later announcement said that all their participants are entered in all track and field events of their respective age groups. Interestingly, volunteers play an important role. Some of the participants, for example, kept on running, even after they have crossed the finish line. The events, especially team events, witnessed some interesting competitions, especially in cricket, badminton, table tennis, basketball and volleyball. The organisational problems apart, the enthusiasm of participants is unprecedented. They remain in playfields throughout the day. At the end of second day,
Maharashtra, Andhra, North West Region, Bengal were
leading in various competitions. |
Wadekar prefers allrounders NEW DELHI, Sept 26 (PTI) — Newly-appointed chairman of the national selection committee Ajit Wadekar has expressed his desire to include as many allrounders as possible in the Indian cricket team for next years’ World Cup. "I would like to see more allrounders in the Indian team. For any World Cup or one-day match, allrounders are more important. Specialised bowlers could have an off day and come up with a bad performance. But if you will have batting allrounders, they would help in batting also," Wadekar told a private news programme yesterday. Regarding the Indian team's present condition, the former captain and manager felt the squad had lost its balance because of the splitting for the Commonwealth and the Sahara Cup and hoped it would get back to its winning ways. "The split definitely disturbed the balance in the team but I am sure it would soon regain it," Wadekar said. The selection committee chairman said the Indian squad should be sent to England at least a fortnight in advance of the World Cup so that the players could acclimatise to the conditions there. The former India captain also agreed with coach Ansuman Gaekwad that the hectic scheduling has done a lot of harm to the Indian team which was put on a plane for Zimbabwe within 24 hours of returning from Toronto. Gaekwad had criticised the cricket board for the scheduling and said it had affected the Indian team’s performance. Wadekar also justified the inclusion of left-arm paceman N. Madhukar, whose selection for the India ‘A’ team’s tour of Pakistan had raised lot of controversy, by saying that the Andhra paceman had bowled well in Pakistan. "It is better we try him out", was the former India skipper’s explanation. About the inclusion of diminutive left-arm spinner Pawar at the cost of his lanky Mumbai mate Nilesh Kulkarni, Wadekar said that the former seemed to be the better bet in the longer version of the game as he flighted "the ball more". Cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele said left-hander Vinod Kambli had still not fully recovered from the ankle injury he suffered at Cuttack in April during the triangular one-day series at home. "Kambli will be practising with the Mumbai Ranji probables. He has started jogging", Lele added. The new committee was addressed by the board chief Raj Singh Dungapur prior to the meeting. "It is a routine thing when a new committee is formed. He told us what the board had in mind. The general feeling is the board is in sound health when India is winning", Wadekar said in a lighter vein. Wadekar said the fiasco of
Toronto and Kuala Lumpur did have its brighter side as
"we were able to experiment with youngsters and
gauge their temperament and performance at the
international level". |
Kumble reaches landmark BULAWAYO, Sept 26 (PTI) — Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble today became the first spinner in the history of one-day internationals to capture 200 victims by reaching the landmark in the first tie against Zimbabwe here today. The 27-year-old Karnataka star bowled Zimbabwe tail-ender Garry Brent for nought at the Queen’s Club ground here to achieve the distinction in his 147th match. The silent match-winner is well ahead of contemporaries Shane Warne of Australia, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed of Pakistan and Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan to achieve it. "I knew about the impending milestone," a beaming Kumble told PTI after India had restricted Zimbabwe to 213 in 50 overs. Coach Anshuman Gaekwad, unaware of the coming landmark, congratulated the bowler with a warm hug. "A haul of 200 is marvellous any time and to think of it, this is my first in any grade of cricket," said Kumble, who is also on the verge of achieving a similar effort in Tests, having captured 197 victims so far. The landmark could have arrived in the just-ended Sahara Cup in Toronto had not the Commonwealth Games interfered, but Kumble had no regrets. "It was coming anyway, sooner or later," he said. Kumble, known for his
accuracy, admitted he was more defensive in one-dayers
than Tests. "Well, at the back of your mind you are
always telling yourself to bowl accurately, pin the
batsman down. I generally avoid experimenting unless the
situation demands so," he said. |
|
MUMBAI, Sept 26 (PTI) — The itinerary for the West Indies 'A' team's cricket tour to India in November-December would be finalised on October 1. "We are looking at the domestic schedule for fixing venues which would be free to conduct the matches, "Indian cricket board Secretary Jaywant Lele said here today. The West Indies board had announced the tour programme from St. John's Antigua, a month ago but Lele had clarified that it was done without consulting the Indian board. Among the venues announced
for the four-day "Tests" by the Windies board
was Mumbai. But the dates of the "Test" clashed
with those of the Duleep Trophy quarter-final which is
scheduled to be played here. |
|
NAGAON, Sept 26 (PTI) — Border Security Force (Jalandhar) beat Bangladesh’s Mukti Joddha Sansad Krira Chakra Club 2-0 to win the Independence Day Cup Football Tournament at the Nurul Amin Stadium here today in a controversy-marred match. BSF midfielder Harbinder Singh scored both the goals, the first in sixth minute and the second in 35th minute. However, the match was marrred by controversy as the visiting team walked out in protest as referee Dulal Basumatary disallowed a goal by Jowel Rana in the 11th minute. They, however, returned after 11 minutes after being persuaded by the organising committee members. The referee was also attacked by the BSF players in the second half following a controversial off side ruling. Bsf were the winners of
the cup in 1979, 1992 and 1993 while they were runners-up
last year. |
16 teams for Asian Basketball meet CALCUTTA, Sep 26 (PTI) — Sixteen countries will participate in the 15th Asian Basketball Championship for junior men to be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here from November 5 to 13. Of the 16, six countries will have direct entry to the tournament — holders China, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Chinese Taipei and hosts India, the Basketball Federation of India president, B. K. Saha told newsmen here yesterday. The other 10 participants will have to qualify from the five groups — East Asia, South-East Asia, Middle Asia, West Asia and the Gulf. The group matches will be played in round robin league format, while from the quarterfinal stage the matches will be played on a knockout basis. All the participating
players must have been born on or after January 1, 1980,
Mr Saha, who is also the Deputy Secretary General of the
Asian Basketball Federation, said. |
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