Saturday, April 10, 1999
today's calendar
|
S P O R T | Saturday, April 10, 1999 |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
|||
|
Jadeja scripts stunning win SHARJAH, April 9 — Stand-in skipper Ajay Jadeja came up with a magical three-wicket haul in a single over to pull India to a sensational 20-run victory over England in a low-scoring thriller for their first win in the Coca Cola Triseries Limited Overs Cricket Tournament league tie tonight. Sehwag, Shukla to join squad MUMBAI, April 9 — Delhi allrounder Virendra Sehwag and Bengal’s Laxmi Ratan Shukla are to fly to Sharjah tomorrow night to bolster the sickness-hit Indian team, the cricket board announced here tonight. |
 |
Becker
leads German charge into last 8 |
|
Moya concedes q-final match Olympic
panel adopts confidentiality order Anand
keen to revive campaign
India Cup TT from today Ganesh
runs through Punjab innings Laxman
props up Hyderabad Sasikiran
poised to emerge champion |
|||||||
|
Jadeja scripts stunning win SHARJAH, April 9 (PTI) — Stand-in skipper Ajay Jadeja came up with a magical three-wicket haul in a single over to pull India to a sensational 20-run victory over England in a low-scoring thriller for their first win in the Coca Cola Triseries Limited Overs Cricket Tournament league tie tonight. Jadeja, who had marshalled the bowling superbly as India defended their modest total of 222 for five in 50 overs, dismissed Robert Croft, the entrenched Neil Fairbrother (57) and Darren Gough in a sensational 47th over to turn the match India’s way as England were all out for 202 in 47.5 overs. England looked to be well within a chance to win at 196 for six wickets after 46 overs, needing 27 to win in 24 balls, when the ‘Man of the Match’ Jadeja decided to come on himself as the main bowlers had almost completed their quota, with Fairbrother threatening to guide England to victory. Jadeja, who has rarely bowled in recent times, had Croft caught in the deep and off his second ball and after bowling a deliberate wide forced left-hander Fairbrother to nick to Rahul Dravid, substituting for wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia who was struck on his mouth keeping to Anil Kumble, and then bowled a clueless Darren Gough off the last ball of the over. Jadeja returned a dream spell of 1-0-3-3 after leading the side astutely in skipper Mohd Azharuddin’s absence due to a toe injury suffering while top-scoring with an unbeaten 74 in India’s subdued batting effort. Paceman Venkatesh Prasad (3/28) and left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi (2/36) kept in India in search of their first win but lack of a good fifth bowler forced Jadeja to don the role to stunning results. India, reeling under tremendous pressure after their continued capitulation to Pakistan and viral fever to a number of players, showed remarkable spirit to bounce back when the chips were down. Both paceman Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad bowled a tight opening spell to remove both openers Alec Stewart (11) and Nick Knight, but Graeme Hick (32-49, 4x4) and left hander Graham Thorpe (20) built up a stand to frustrate India. With Azharuddin off the field with the toe injury, Nayan Mongia became another casualty when a rearing ball from leg spinner Anil Kumble struck him on the mouth and he left with a bleeding mouth injury to be taken to the hospital. But left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi broke the stand by removing both Hick and Thorpe (20) in quick succession. Hick was stumped by an alert Dravid as he was beaten charging out while substitute Amay Khurasia took a well-judged catch off Joshi as Thorpe hit out. The 35-year-old Fairbrother (57 - 77 b, 3x4, 1x6) and young Andrew Flintoff however added 72 runs for the fifth wicket and looked to take the match away from India, with second string bowlers Robin Singh and Saurav Ganguly coming in for heavy punishment with Indian fielding also ordinary. But Prasad returned to bowl Flintoff (32 - 40 b,2x4, 1x6) and Mark Ealham with superb leg cutters to keep India in the hunt for their first win in two matches. With the situation tense, Jadeja’s gamble of bringing himself on clicked as he beat the batsmen with movement off the pitch. He deceived Fairbrother with a beautiful ball that left him and Dravid pouched the edge to end England’s fight. India meet England on Sunday after tomorrow’s rest day. England: |
Sehwag, Shukla to join squad MUMBAI, April 9 (PTI) — Delhi allrounder Virendra Sehwag and Bengal’s Laxmi Ratan Shukla are to fly to Sharjah tomorrow night to bolster the sickness-hit Indian team, the cricket board announced here tonight. Sehwag and Shukla would be joining another allrounder Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who joined the team earlier today, according to the board’s executive secretary, Sharad Diwadkar. Both Sehwag and Shukla would be flying out from Delhi, he added. SHARJAH, April 9 (UNI) — Hrishikesh Kanitkar flew in here this morning from Mumbai to bolster the Indian cricket team that has been beset by serious fitness problems after six players come down with a viral infection. The team is playing in the three-nation Coca Cola Cup series here and suffered a crushing 116-run defeat to Pakistan yesterday. Coach Anshuman Gaekwad told reporters that Ajit Agarkar and Nikhil Chopra continued to have high fever and had been ruled out. "Vinod Kambli has no fever now but he is still quite weak. Amay Khurasia is the same. Nayan Mongia is better’’, he said. India had left out
Agarkar, Kambli, Chopra and Khurasia for yesterday’s
crucial match against Pakistan and were forced to play
Mongia and Prasad, who were not fully fit, to make up the
11. |
Dravid got worse as he batted WHAT a load of rubbish India dished up batting second against Pakistan. I can't say they chased the total of 280 to win because the innings never got started! It was so boring that Indian supporters were walking out in disgust, long before the end. Right from the first few overs Akhtar and Akram gave the openers some fast short stuff and they looked uncomfortable. Either you attack and take the initiative away from the bowlers or you use the pace to place the ball in the gaps and drop it for singles. You need to be really good to attack fast bowling. India tried that tactic in Bangalore on Sunday and lost early wickets which cost them the game. On Thursday, they tried to get a solid start and not lose wickets but there was so much playing and missing. Ramesh in particular was all at sea. His footwork against genuine pace is non-existent. His back foot never moves. He just uses it for standing on! Recently Ramesh has plundered runs against medium pace on flat batting pitches and has looked good with sweet timing. I was one who felt, he should have had a chance earlier in one dayers. If the selectors had done that, we would have seen how badly he plays quicks and he wouldn't have got picked for the World Cup. He is a lucky lad that the team is already selected and he is in it. I cringe watching him stand still and waft at thin air. He makes fast bowlers bowl faster and gives no confidence to his team mates in the dressing room. What a huge disappointment he is. The short stuff unsettled Ganguly and Dravid got worse the longer he batted. I don't know what he was trying to do, but what I do know is, he had lost the plot. Azza looks like a man searching for form, but not knowing where to find it. Five Indian players were ill on the morning of the match, some had to stay in bed. After the pathetic display, it might have been better if they had all stayed in bed! Their technical advisor Bobby Simpson has arrived to help them, but it will need a miracle to get back to the winning ways against Pakistan. For so long we have wondered if India are a one-man batting side against top bowling. At the moment the answer is yes. Come back Sachin as soon as possible they need you badly! India need a boost in
confidence, because losing is becoming a habit. Their
match against England in an opportunity to get the train
back on the rails. Two sides who have lost easily to
Pakistan will be desperate for win. England are rusty and
vulnerable after a two-month lay off. The question is how
much psychological damage has been done to the Indian
players, as they keep losing to old foes Pakistan. It is
such an emotional fixture for both teams, that winning
puts players on a high and the losers become desperate.
For India, the reputations of selectors and players is
riding in the outcome of the India vs England match on
Friday. Another diabolic batting display and heads may
roll. — PMG |
Moya concedes q-final match CHENNAI, April 9 (PTI) — Spainiard Carlos Moya’s hopes of regaining the world number one spot evaporated as he conceded his quarter-final match midway to Germany’s Rainer Schuttler due to "injury" after another crowd favourite Mikael Tillstrom (Sweden) was ousted by John Van Lottum of the Netherlands in the ATP Gold Flake Open Tennis Tournament here this evening. Schuttler set up a semi-final clash with Peter Wessels of the Netherlands, who defeated Vincenzo Santopadre of Italy 6-2 6-4 while eighth seeded Van Lottum will take on fourth seeded Byron Black (Zimbabwe), who beat Richard Fromberg of Australia 6-4 6-4 in another quarter-final match. Moya, currently the World No.2, needed to enter the final to wrest the coveted rank from Pete Sampras of the USA, but was forced to quit when he was trailing 0-3 in the second set after losing the first 1-6. Lottum, who turns 23
tomorrow, recovered splendidly from a first set loss to
win 4-6 6-3 6-2 and halt the advance of the unseeded
Tillstrom, last year’s runner-up and winner of the
1997 edition here. |
Becker leads German charge into last 8 HONG KONG, April 8 (DPA) — Boris Becker today led a charge of three German players into the quarterfinals of the $ 350,000 Salem Open, winning his third match of the year to advance. The 31-year-old tennis icon surprised himself with his top form on the hardcourts at Victoria Park, beating sixth seed Wayne Ferreira 6-4, 7-6, (12-10). Joining the world number 75 in the final eight on a day plagued by drizzle after sunshine all week were compatriots Nicolas Kiefer and Bernd Karbacher. Fifth seed Kiefer accounted for Thai qualifier Paradorn Srichaphan, 6-1, 6-4. Karbacher followed up on his first-round knockout of second seed Pat Rafter, overcoming Brett Steven of New Zealand 6-4, 6-0. Hendrik Dreekman overcame three-times winner Michael Chang later in the day. Chang fell 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Becker is fully intending to retire after the Mercedes Cup in July in Stuttgart following his farewell appearance at Wimbledon. The unseeded star is competing in only his third event of 1999 and has won two of this three matches for the year here. "I'm very satisfied, to pull off a victory like that is pleasing," Becker said of a match interrupted for 20 minutes by rain at 3-3 in the second set. Almost as if on cue, Becker slipped with a thud on the final point before the chair umpire called a rain interruption. "It was a nervous delay," said the German. "I didn't know if I could come out and win the game with two big serves (which he did.)". Becker had eight aces to 13 for Ferreirs, ranked 30th. The German said that even with his fabled career winding down, he still had professional pride as he played here and in Tokyo during his goodbye Asian swing. "I'm a professional and don't want to give a bad effort. The people buy their tickets and deserve our best," he insisted. Becker will play tomorrow against Italian Laurence Tieleman, a winner over Filipino-American Cecil Mamiit, 6-3, 6-4. Seventh-seed Jonas Bjorkman, the Swede who handed Becker a loss at the German's first match of the year in February at Dubai, beat Japan's Giochi Motomura 6-2, 6-4. OEIRAS (Portugal) (AP): No. 2 seed Tood Martin of the USA secured a berth in the quarterfinals of the Estoril Open with a 7-5, 6-3 victory yesterday over Portugal's Nuno Marques. No. 5 seed Gustavo Kuertan of Brazil also won despite at times clumsy performance, defeating Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4. Third-seed Marcelo Rios of Chile and fourth-seed Albert Portas of Spain were due to play their matches later in the day. In the women's draw, unseeded Spaniard Cristina Torrens upset No. 2 seed Sarah Pitkowski of France 6-4, 6-1. Fourth-seed Elena Wagner of Germany also was eliminated, beaten 7-5, 6-3, by unseeded Bulgarian Lubomira Bacheva. No. 5 Croatian Silvija Talaja dusted Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-2, and Slovakian Katarina Srebotnik recovered to defeat German Julia Abe 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Men's top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov and the women's top seed Anke Huber already have been eliminated. AMELIA ISLAND, (Florida): Anna Kournikova defeated top-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the third round of the Bausch and Lamb Championships yesterday continuing a stretch that will keep her moving up in the world rankings. It was a 6-4, 6-1 victory in which the ninth-seeded Russian used her strong forehand to pick on Davenport, the world's second-ranked player who is struggling to overcome a sprained lift wrist. "Lindsay has a powerful game," Kournikova said. "My object was to get as many balls back as possible, just keep them in play, work the point and then, try to do something with it." Earlier, No. 2 seed Monica Seles of the USA took only 41 minuted to defeat Alexandra Fusai of France 6-0, 6-1. Seles has lost a total of five games in her first two matches. No. 6 seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland defeated Inez Gorrochategui of Argentina 7-5, 6-2. Fourth-seeded compatriot Nathalie Dechy at night. Kournikova also played
the Marquee match last night, beating Jennifer Capriati
of the USA 6-3, 6-3. |
Olympic panel adopts confidentiality order SALT LAKE CITY, April 9 (AP) — The Salt Lake Organising Committee (SLOC) has adopted a gag order prohibiting board members from releasing confidential information — a rule punishable by expulsion. The vote came two months after SLOC President Mitt Romney, taking the reins as the Chief Operating Officer of the organising committee, promised a new era of openness in the Olympic movement. The gag order was adopted after some members complained they were learning more from press accounts than Olympic managers. But Mr Romney said press leaks often occurred when SLOC letters and faxes are sent to the board members. He urged them to show restraint, especially with budget material. The confidentiality order was a much-discussed impromptu item during a meeting at the Utah capitol of SLOC's 20-member management committee. The committee also approved Mr Romney's hiring of Fraser Bullock as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr Bullock will begin work on May 1. He replaces Dave Johnson, who was forced out in January amid revelations that Salt Lake boosters had used gifts, cash payments and other favour to win the 2002 Winter Games. "I'm just going to focus like a laser, on SLOC finances and organising," said Mr Bullock (44), Managing Director of Alpine Consolidated, a Utah firm that specialises in business consolidations. He had worked with Mr Romney at Boston-based Bain and Co, and has known him for the last 18 years. The board's new confidentiality order will not apply to its several ex-officio members who can't be replaced under any circumstance. They include Governor Mike Leavitt and Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini or their designees. "Clearly, we're not going to ask the Governor to resign" for divulging information", said board member James Swartz, who sponsored the gag order. It was passed by a vote
of 15-0 with Mr Romney abstaining. |
WBC proposes new points system MEXICO CITY, April 9 (AP) — The World Boxing Council (WBC) proposed a new system to announce judges' scoring totals at the fourth and eighth rounds of title fights to avoid controversies like the one that marred a recent heavyweight bout. "We have just mailed a letter to that effect to the Washington, D.C., Athletic Commission for the next fight there and we are awaiting a reply", WBC Executive Secretary Eduardo Lamason said. A controversy erupted when the judges declared a draw in the March 13 title unification fight in New York's Madison Square Garden between Britain's Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield that most observers thought Lewis had won. Lewis held the WBC heavyweight crown, while Holyfield held the title for the World Boxing Association (WBA) based in Caracas, Venezuela, and the New Jersey headquartered International Boxing Federation (IBF). In the letter, WBC President Jose Sulaiman proposed the new system be implemented in time for the middleweight fight between Hassine Cherifi of France and American challenger Keith Holmes scheduled for April 24 in Washington. The judges' names would not be made public. They would instead be designated as A.B. and C. And only the local boxing commission and the WBC would know them, Mr Sulaiman's proposal said. Mr Sulaiman said the pilot system is also going to be proposed to the nine continental boxing federations that make up the WBC and then formally proposed as a general rule when the 500 WBC members meet in a general assembly from September 20 to 26 in Moscow. NEWARK, (NEW JERSEY), The boxing judge criticised for her scoring in the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis heavyweight title fight told a federal grand jury that No one attempted to sway her decision, her lawyer, Mr Louis B. Priluker, said yesterday. Ms Eugenia Williams also answered "absolutely not" when asked if anyone had ever offered her bribes or tried to influence her in any bout, said Mr Priluker. Newspaper reports said the grand jury is investigating whether the International Boxing Federation (IBF), one of the world's three major sanctioning organisations, sold rankings and arranged fights in return for kickbacks. The grand jury has subpoenaed all records of the New Jersey-based IBF since 1982 on rankings and contracts for fights, as well as checks, invoices, expense forms and telephone records, IBF attorney, Walter R. Stone, said. The IBF is also being examined by New York law enforcement agencies because of the controversial draw in the Holyfield-Lewis fight. Of the three judges, only the IBF-picked judge Williams had Holyfield winning the fight many believed Lewis dominated. In public testimony last
month before a New York state senate panel, Ms Williams
said she called the fight as she saw it, but that
photographers blocked her view at times. |
Anand keen to revive campaign DOS HERMANAS, April 9 (PTI) — After a good day’s rest, grand-master Viswanathan Anand returns to the table for a crucial and tough clash late tonight with Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik in the third round of the Dos Hermanas Chess Tournament here. The world number two Indian, still stunned by his opening round defeat to Judit Polgar of Hungary, the highest ranked woman chess player in the world, will hope that a good round against the Russian will help him revive his campaign after the unexpected result. With seven rounds still to go, Anand, who drew with Briton Michael Adams in his second game and has only half point so far, has enough chances of getting among the leaders. And the rest he got yesterday will do him a world of good. Anand, who figured in each of the four big tournaments so far in 1999 and is expected to play more as the year goes by, needs to pace himself well in order to repeat last season’s success. The Indian, who won seven titles and topped it by bagging the coveted Chess Oscar, has struggled to win his first title this season. Another incentive for him will be the FIDE world championship which will be held in July-August in Las Vegas and Anand needs to be in top position to win that one final accolade which he has missed twice so far. Kramnik, who will take white against Anand, is looking solid and is playing carefully, drawing difficult games and picking useful points off weaker opponents and will be a tough opponent. Kramnik, who has also figured in the four big tournaments of the year so far, is not straining despite playing as much as Anand. The Dos Hermanas event, which was revived after a year’s gap - Anand won it in 1997 when it was played last — has thus far gone on expected lines except Anand’s loss to Polgar. That loss may not mean much if Anand gets back to winning ways soon, but he will certainly be thinking about it as he has not lost often to Polgar, who is playing in a Category-19 tournament after a year’s gap. The tournament was robbed of some further interest with the pulling out of Russian youngster Alexander Morozevich, who was due to make his debut at the super GM level. Most others have been seen often on the circuit, and a new face and talent would have generated lot of interest. The youngster was replaced by the consistent Boris Gelfand, a former winner here, after Morozevich fell ill and returned home on the eve of the tournament. Standings: Adams (1.5);
V. Korchnoi (one point from one game), Kramnik, J.
Polgar, V. Topalov, A. Karpov, M. Illescas (all one point
from two games); Gelfand (0.5 off one game); Anand,
Svidler (both 0.5 points). |
India Cup TT from today MUMBAI, April 9 (PTI) — World number 72 and national champion Chetan Baboor of Karnataka and women’s champion Poulami Ghatak of Bengal have been given the pride of place in the 1.75 lakh prize money India Cup Table Tennis Tournament beginning here tomorrow. The tournament, to be played on a new format, would have the top four men’s and women’s players in the country seeded directly in the knock-out quarter-finals, chief referee A.M. Lele told reporters here last night. The remaining 13 players in the men’s and women’s section would be divided into four groups and would play among themselves on league basis, Lele added. The group toppers would qualify for the quarter-finals which would be telecast live by Doordarshan. The final would be held on April 11. The men’s champion would take home Rs 50,000 while the women’s winner would be richer by Rs 30,000. The Following are the
seedings: |
Ganesh runs through Punjab innings AMRITSAR, April 9 (UNI) — Test discard Doda Ganesh with figures of six for thirtyseven came up with one of his best performances in domestic cricket as he sent Punjab reeling for a paltry 90 runs in their first innings on the opening day of the crucial five-day Ranjit Trophy match against Karnataka at the Gandhi Grounds here today. On a dead wicket which provided no assistance to the bowlers, Punjab batted irresponsibly and from fortyfour for no loss they were bowled out at the stroke of lunch. After star batsman Navjot Sidhu’s ran himself out at the score of 64, Ganesh just ran through the Punjab innings. Karnataka too had their share of problems in the early part of their innings losing four wickets with just 68 runs on the board, but a fine 118-run fifth wicket stand between the in-form Vijay Bhardwaj and Tilak Naidu redeemed their position and they ended the day at 206 for five. Though Ganesh bowled well, the Punjab batsmen were out due to their own mistakes. From 44 for no loss the hosts were all out for ninety runs at the stroke of lunch. Skipper Vikram Rathore became Ganesh’s first victim when he was bowled by a in-swinger for 19 runs. Then there were two runs outs — the first to go was Sandeep Sharma and then Navjot Sidhu who top scored with 26 went for a run which was not there and was caught stranded in the middle of the wicket. After Sidhu’s fall, Punjab wickets fell like nine pins with all their batsmen failing to apply themselves to the job. Besides Rathore, the other victims of Gandesh included Dharmani, Amit Sharma, Harminder Jugnu, Harbhajan Singh and Navdeep Singh SCOREBOARD: |
Laxman props up Hyderabad HYDERABAD, April 9 (PTI) — Superb bowling by Madhya Pradesh spinners Sunil Lahore (2/38) and Manish Majithia (2/45) restricted hosts Hyderabad to 237 for six on the first day of the five-day Ranji Trophy semi-final here today. Electing to bat, test discard VVS Laxman came to the rescue of Hyderabad yet again with a valuable knock of 84 which came in 201 minutes off 150 balls with 10 boundaries. The hosts lost their opener Daniel Manohar (9) who was caught by Rajesh Chouhan at short-mid wicket off J.P. Yadav with the side total reading 21. Nanda Kishore (23) joined opener Laxman and they were struggling to get runs as MP skipper Chandrakant Pandit with his vast experience kept an attacking field to trap Laxman. But Nanda Kishore was the next to go, caught by wicketkeeper C.P. Sahu off Manish Majithia for 23. His second wicket partnership with Laxman yielded 56 runs off 102 balls. Laxman followed suit when he was caught at mid-wicket by Santosh Sahu off Lahore. Scoreboard: |
Sasikiran poised to emerge champion NAGPUR, April 9 (PTI) — K. Sasikiran was poised to emerge as the new national chess champion after scoring win over IM Ravi Hegde in the penultimate round of 36th National "A" Chess Championship here today. With just one round to go, the 18-year-old prodigy from Chennai has built up an unassailable one-and-a-half-point lead over his nearest rival Grand Master Pravin Thipsay. With 12.5 points to his credit, Sasikiran has virtually pocketed the title. Hegde tried to surprise Sasikiran with fianchetto variation against the slav defence, only to discover that his opponent was better prepared in this system. Accepting a pawn sacrificed by Hegde, Sasikiran played the opening moves quickly and retained the extra pawn without allowing Hegde to get the slightest compensation. Hegde tried to get some initiative at any cost by sacrificing an exchange but Sasikiran easily neutralised all threats to win the game in 24 moves. Expressing satisfaction over his performance. Sasikiran told PTI he intended to take some time off from tournament to prepare thoroughly before his bid for Grand Master title. Sasikiran already has one GM norm to his credit and gets the next opportunity for securing the remaining norms when he plays in Spain in June. GM Thipsay, after initial setbacks, moved into the second spot with a masterly win against S.K. Rathore. Thipsay employed the Spanish opening and gained slight advantage from it. The central files were opened in the middle game and Thipsay doubled his rooks in the king file to exert tremendous pressure. Rathore played passively and Thipsay used tactical threats to increase his advantage. Rathore was forced to part with a pawn in order to defend against mating threats. The queen got exchanged and Thipsay had little difficulty in winning the double bishop ending. IM Abhijit Kunte slipped to third position after agreeing to a quick draw against IM N.K. Mishra. He is joined by IM elect G.B. Prakash who continued his steady progress outwitting IM V. Koshy. Prakash played the torre attack to stop Koshy from entering his pet variation and complicated position resulted with Prakash having a slight edge. Koshy landed in time trouble while resisting the pressure applied by his opponent and made some miscalculation. Prakash won a couple of pawns and steered the game into an ending to score a win in 50 moves. IM R.B. Ramesh, who had seemed a safe bet for a place in the top six throughout the championship, now finds himself in danger of elimination after his defeat by IM V. Sarnanan today. Konguvel is another half point behind but he too has an outside chance if the last round results go favourably to him. In the event of players tying on the same score, the koya system of break will be applied to resolve the tie and decide the placings. The system, an invention of present secretary of All-India Chess Federation P.T. Ummer Koya, determines the final ranking of tied players by considering their score against the players who have scored at least half the possible number of points. The new system has been officially adopted by International Chess Federation (FIDE), as a tie-breaker. Tomorrow is the rest day. Results of 16th round:
R.G. Hegde (6) lost to K. Sasikiran (12.5), P.M. Thipsay
(11) bt S.K. Rathor (5), Abhijit Kunte (10.5) drew with
N.K. Mishra (5.5), G.B. Prakash (10.5) bt V. Koshy (5.5),
V. Sarvanan (9.5) bt R.B. Ramesh (10), D.V. Prasad (9.5)
bt Suvrajit Saha (6.5), P. Konguvel (9) drew with
Neelotpal Das (7.5), Anup Deshmukh (6.5) drew with T.S.
Ravi (7), Shankar Roy (5.5) bt Tejas Bakre (6). |
Kerala overcome holders Punjab TRIPRAYAR, April 9 (PTI) — Hosts Kerala shocked holders Punjab 25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23 in an exciting clash while Tamil Nadu overcame a fighting Karnataka to score its second win in the men’s section of the National Volleyball League here yesterday. Kerala played superbly to hand out Punjab their first defeat in four matches here while Tamil Nadu prevailed over Karnataka 25-23, 25-17, 17-25, 17-25, 15-13 in a gruelling encounter. Led by some fine performance from Tom Joseph, captain Tony Mathew and Tinu Jose, Kerala took the initiative from the word go, running up to a 10-6 lead in the first set, and increasing it to 17-7. Though Punjab managed to bridge the gap, it was not enough to stop Kerala from taking the set. But the holders came back into the match with some powerful smashes from spikers Pratipal Singh, Suraj Prakash and Manoj Kumar, leaving Kerala players stunned on many occasions. The third set saw a close fight with both the teams on even terms till 19-19 before Kerala raised their game to clinch it 25-22. Kerala went on to win the match by taking the fourth set at 25-23. In the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka match, Tamil Nadu won the first two sets without much trouble in 37 minutes, but gave up the initiative in the next two. The tie-break was
closely fought. For Tamil Nadu, K Sayee Krishnana,
captain Tulsi Reddy, A Manoharan, and M Kumaran played
superbly, while for the losers M Prakash Rao, skipper TB
Ravindra and Lakshmi Narayanan were at their best. |
Coaches' clinic begins CHANDIGARH, April 9 — It is basically coaching the coaches at various levels of the game", said Mr Devender Singh, vice-president of the Badminton Association of India and chief guest of the inaugural ceremony of the three-day All India badminton coaches clinic which began here today. Badminton coaches from all over India are participating with update being provided on topics such as sports injuries, physiological aspects of play, strength training, nutritional demands for the players and about the latest rules and laws governing the game. The day began with the lecture by Dr Ashok Ahuja, senior scientific officer at NIS, who spoke about the recovery methods after injuries and underlined the urgent need for learning the basic techniques involved for rehabilitation. Dr Ahuja said that normally the injuries were left as it is and no proper recovery methods were adopted. The various rehabilitation goals were to restore joint range of motion, increasing muscular strength and endurance, etc. Then comes increasing and maintaining the cardiovascular activity, and the psychotherapy management. Dr Ahuja emphasised that in badminton the players were prone to more injuries as it was becoming a power game. Therefore, proper knowledge of the basic facts is must for any coach to prevent jeopardising the career of a player. Careers of so many players had suffered due to minor injuries becoming major one as no proper treatment was provided to them. Dr A. Ghosh highlighted
the physical aspects of badminton players — his
height, body weight, etc. The elite badminton players
have an average height of 179.0 cm. and 69.0 kg weight
males while for females it is 160 cm and 51.5 kg. |
Air chief opens sport festival ANANDPUR SAHIB, April 9 — Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis, Chief of the Air Staff, today, inaugurated the International Sports Festival, dedicated to the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations, at the newly built Charan Ganga Sports Stadium. He released balloons along with the logo of the festival and pigeons to mark the occasion. As many as 275 players including 44 from Pakistan, 34 from the USA, 17 from England, eight each from Uzbekistan and Kazakistan, 116 from Punjab and 51 from Haryana are expected to participate in this five-day festival. The competitions in different games, including kabaddi and wrestling will be held at the stadium from 3 pm to 7 pm daily till April 13 from tomorrow. Addressing the gathering, Air Chief Marshal Tipnis lauded the role of the Sikhs in every field of life. He said the Sikhs had not only performed well in sports, but also excelled in the Army. He said, the Sikhs had earned a name in sports by producing athletes and players like Milkha Singh, Bishen Singh Bedi, Pargat Singh and Ajit Pal Singh. He said, in the defence forces, the services rendered by General Jagjit Singh Arora, Air Chief Marshals Arian Singh and Dilbag Singh would be remembered for long. The Punjab Chief Minister announced that the stadium would be extended for seating one lakh spectators. He also said that the academy of martial arts would be completed in three months. Air Chief Marshal Tipnis also honoured certain Punjabi players, winners of the Arjuna Award. The players included Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, Sunita Rani, Neelam J.Singh, Rampal Singh, Puppy Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, R.S.Bali, Jagjit Singh, Tarlochan Singh, Balwant Singh, Ranjit Singh and Gurbachan Singh. A memento was also presented to the Air Chief Marshal and his wife Molina Tipnis by the Punjab Chief Minister. At the inaugural function, show jumping, bullock cart races and a sky diving show was held.
|
Digvijay clinches trophy CHANDIGARH, April 9 — Digvijay Singh clinched the Bharat Petroleum Samarvir Sahi Trophy, wrapping up the Amateur Chandigarh Open in grand style playing fine golf to finish well ahead of the competition as expected. Harmeet Kahlon also held on to his position behind Digvijay, inching ahead of Sheeraz Kalra who was within an ace of taking up the spot of runner-up. Digvijay started the day slowly, concentrating on making pars and, as he said after the tournament, making the competition do the work. He was one over at the turn with bogies on the 3rd and 4th and birdie on the 8th. With repeat birdie and the two bogies in the back nine he finished with a comfortable 2 over par 74 to be just 2 over for the entire tournament — a creditable performance indeed and a good augur for his imminent entry into the professional golf circuit. Harmeet Kahlon played well today to finish the first half at level par but a double bogey, his third in the tournament on the dog-leg 15 and bogies on the 16th and the final 18th saw him slip to a 2 over par 74 and no closer to catching up with the winner Digvijay Singh. Sheeraz Kalra who was within sniffing distance of the runner-up spot yesterday could not overhaul the one stroke lead that Harmeet Khalon had over him as he once again started out with a bogey on the first. Despite two birdies on the 2nd and the 6th he was 1 over at the turn. Playing level par thereafter he might have beaten Harmeet but for his bogies on the closing 17th and 18th hole. Anitya Chand had a comparatively poor round of 6 over par 78 today, making several bogies and no birdies at all today. Still he held his head above water to finish in fourth place. Jaiveer Singh who had a good round of 1 over 73 yesterday repeated his performance today playing a level par back nine with two bogey and two birdies this effort would have enabled him to finish fifth but for the superlative round played by Manav Dass. The best card of the day was returned by Manav Dass who played fantastic 4 under par 68 round, one better than what Digvijay brought in on the first day. Manav made no mistakes in the front nine firing three birdies on the 1st, 3rd and 9th to play 3 below. In the back nine he made two birdies and only one bogey to bring in the best card of the tournament. His Herculean effort enabled him to finish fifth in the tournament. The positions are as
below: Digvijay Singh (290), Harmeet Kahlon (295),
Sheeraz Kalra (297), Anitya Chand (301), Manav Dass
(302), Jaiveer Singh (303), Aman Behl, Shiv Kapoor, Vinod
Kumar (307), Sandeep Syal, Amit Luthra (308). |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Chandigarh | Editorial | Business | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
