• Paes-Bhupathi ties under strain

Do Latif's charges have credence? CHANDIGARH, April 17 — After India's disastrous performance in the final of the Coca Cola Triangular Cricket Tournament at Sharjah last evening, where they were outplayed by Pakistani in all departments of the game, one is likely to give credence to the charge levelled by former Pakistani captain Rashid Latif that Pakistan's match against England in the same tournament was "fixed".

Azhar, Gaekwad blame batsmen
SHARJAH, April 17 — Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin and coach Anshuman Gaekwad have both blamed the side’s poor batting for its humiliating loss to Pakistan in the final of the Coca Cola Cup cricket series here on Friday.

Azhar fumes at media
SHARJAH, April 17 — Clearly rattled by rising criticism of his lacklustre leadership in sharp contrast to his deputy Ajay Jadeja’s performance, Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin has turned his ire on the media.

Victory eludes Anand
DOS HERMANAS (Spain), April 17 — Victory continued to elude Vishwanathan Anand in the Dos Hermanas Chess Grandmasters Tournament as he drew his eighth round game against Miguel Illescas of Spain.

Punjab to take on West Punjab
CHANDIGARH, April 17 — The Punjab kabaddi teams of both India and Pakistan will play five-test series which begins from April 18 at Begowal in Kapurthala district.

Mantilla ends Moya's ranking dream
BARCELONA, April 17 — An exhausted Carlos Moya saw his hopes of recapturing the world number one ranking dashed yesterday as he stumbled out of the Barcelona Open, losing 4-6 6-2 6-3 to Felix Mantilla.

Injured Davenport pulls out of squad
RALEIGH, April 17 — Croatia’s loss of the home court advantage in this weekend’s Federation Cup series against the USA was balanced out yesterday when the world’s no. 2 player, Lindsay Davenport, pulled out because of a wrist injury.

Johl slips to 20th position
MACAU, April 17 — In a good position until the end of the second round, Vivek Bhandari and Amandeep Johl slipped in form today to take the 14th and 20th spots respectively at the $ 200,000 Macau Open Golf Tournament here.

Paes beats Bhupathi, lifts title

NEW DELHI, April 17 (PTI) — Top seed Leander Paes reiterated his supremacy over doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi with a straight sets victory to claim the singles title in an all-Indian final of the Servo Indian Oil ATP Challenger Tennis Tournament.

Indian number one Paes quickly brushed aside early hiccups to play solid tennis throughout to outplay a surprisingly subdued Bhupathi 7-5, 6-4 in just under one hour and 20 minutes to complete his second Challenger title of the year, at the Delhi Tennis Association deco-turf courts here.

The Davis Cup star, ranked 108 in the ATP computer list, dropped his very first service game but gained full command to stretch his head to head record over the 318-ranked Bhupathi to 4-0 in a repeat clash of the Calcutta Challenger final this February, which was decided in three sets.

Paes claimed 60 ATP points. In a match between the world number two doubles pair who knew each other's game thoroughly, Bhupathi raced 3-0 ahead in the opening set to raise visions of a close tussle, but Paes used sliced returns and exquisite drops to telling effect displaying a level of consistency absent in earlier rounds.

Israeli second seeds Noam Behr and Eyal Ran claimed the doubles with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Barry Cowan of Britain and Wesley Whitehouse of South Africa.

Bhupathi served two double-faults before holding his first game but promptly broke to go up 2-0, whipping deep returns to the backhand corner of Peas to force errors.

Bhupathi held serve to go up 3-0 and looked to continue from earlier rounds when he beat seventh seed Tuomas Ketola of Finland, second seed Vladimir Voltchkov of Belaras and third ranked Gaston Etlis of Argentina to reach the summit clash.

But Paes, who had struggled and had been stretched the full distance in his previous three rounds, quickly tightened his game. He broke Bhupathi in the seventh game with a slick forehand shot down the line followed by a sharp return forcing his rival to net his forehand.

The top seed clinched the decisive break in the 11th game before serving out for the set. Bhupathi produced two big serves to go 30-0 up, but his impressive net forays suddenly turned into a trickle as Paes began mixing up fluent shots to either flanks with inch-perfect drops and placements.

Paes clinched break-point with a backhand crosscourt return and Bhupathi double-faulted to concede the break before the top Indian, aiming to push his singles ranking up the ladder, held serve easily.

A determined Paes clinched an early break in the third game and held on to it by producing some stunning drops from the baseline as Bhupathi's game gradually lost sting.

Serving for the match, Paes gained his first matchpoint when his 'long' serve was not called. Bhupathi hit a superb service return to force deuce and held breakpoint when Paes netted a volley. But Paes recovered with two big serves and clinched the second matchpoint.

"I have struggled all week with my serve. But the tie-breaker win yesterday (against Frenchman Gregory Carraz in the semifinal) helped me motivate myself", Paes said revealing that he was prepared to negate Bhupathi's usual ploy of coming out firing on all cylinders.

"After the early setback, I dug deep and pulled away. I have stayed mentally very strong if you see the three set wins in the previous rounds", said 25-year-old Paes, who was happy to win two challengers early in the year.

Paes, who had a sore hip due to bruises suffered going for an acrobatic retrieval in the semifinal, said the balls provided here were heavier, which had left him with a sore shoulder too.

"I was struggling to find my rhythm and his slicing and drops made it difficult", said Bhupathi, who was delighted to post three big wins and collect 48 points.

"I would have preferred playing someone else. We know each other's game so well and he played a solid match", he said.

Bhupathi was happy Indian players were able to dominate the challengers at home. "It had done my confidence a lot of good", he added.

The two leave for Monte Carlo to play doubles in the supernine event starting there next week.

Paes-Bhupathi ties under strain

NEW DELHI, April 17 (PTI) — Top Indian tennis player Leander Paes today hinted his relationship with doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi had indeed cooled and the world number two pair would maintain a strictly professional tie-up in their quest for Grand Slam glory and the world number one status.

Paes, who beat Bhupathi in straight sets to claim the ATP Challenger tennis title said: "I have to be professional about what I’ve to do," when asked to comment on reports that there were differences between him and Bhupathi.

But he clearly indicated there were problems between the two when asked to comment on his statement that there was room for improvement in Bhupathi’s game,

"That is something Mahesh and his team have to work out. I go about doing my job. I set very high standards for myself. If anybody wants to compete against me and beat me, they have to get that much better," he said firmly.

But both Paes and Bhupathi revealed their determination to achieve their goal as world number one and have marked the French Open out in the quest for their maiden doubles Grand Slam title.

The Davis Cup stars who were once planning to engage a common trainer on the tour have now settled for different hands. Bhupathi, attributing his good run here to improved fitness levels, said after the match: "I have worked hard with my new trainer (Britain’s Will Upton whom he engaged recently) but I am not even close to the fitness level I want to achieve."

Paes, on the other hand, works with noted trainers Pat Etcheberry and Jim Loehr in California to tone up his body for the rigours of the tour.

The two have reaped 13 ATP Tour titles, including the hat-trick completed at the Chennai Open last week, since Paes took on Bhupathi as regular doubles partner in the 1996 Singapore Open.

Both had become thick friends helping each other on the tour and reports of differences, reinforced by comments from Paes today, have come as a disappointment as Indian tennis fans have pinned all faith for the country’s first Grand Slam title on this crack doubles pair. (Bhupathi won the 1997 French Open mixed doubles title with Rika Hiraki as partner).

But both Paes and Bhupathi are clear they would together strive to become world number one and win the French Open after beginning a six-tournament stretch starting with the Monaco super nine event next week. "We feel we can achieve it and are also comfortable with the venue," Paes said.

Paes, whose singles ranking has been oscillating around the 100-mark said his aim was to emerge in the top 50. The former Wimbledon junior champion, whose first ATP Tour title came only last year at Newport, Rhode Island said his confidence had grown from winning some big matches like beating world number one Pete Sampras at New Haven last year.

"I want to move on to tour level (from challengers) and prepare to play the big boys,"he added.

Bhupathi said singles could come only when his doubles schedule permitted, but he was gaining confidence to look for more singles tournaments.

Present Pak team better: Imran

DUBAI, April 17 (UNI) — Former Pakistani cricket captain Imran Khan feels that the present team is better than the side he led to victory in the 1992 World Cup and adds that his country would have dominated cricket today had Wasim Akram been provided an unbroken stint at the top.

"This is a better team without doubt. They clearly have greater talent. Just the fact that they are able to leave out (Salim) Malik, (Waqar) Younis and Mushtaq (Ahmed) proves it,’’ he told local newspapers.

Imran, who was here as a television commentator for the Coca-Cola Cup cricket series, which Pakistan won by eight wickets over India in yesterday’s finals, said Pakistan should have stuck with Akram as captain after his retirement.

"When I retired, I recommended Wasim. They made him captain, and then removed him. That was a mistake. Now he has been brought back for a third time. If they had stuck with him before, Pakistan would now be the best team in the world. It is very unfortunate they changed the captain as frequently as they did,’’ he said.

"Pakistan have always had a good side, the problem was the leaderhip. There was no stability in the team and, as a result, they were getting beaten,’’ he felt.

"Bringing Akram in has made all the difference. He is a team man and has always been the best for the job,’’ Imran said.

He also criticised the Pakistan cricket board for the manner in which it had handled bribery and match-fixing allegations.

"Match-fixing did take place ... But that was way back. By not taking action then, whenever the team loses now, we have this problem,’’ he lamented.

Imran said Pakistan would find conditions for the world cup in England vastly different from those in the Indian sub-continent.

"Look, conditions in England are completely different ... The wicket helps seamers a lot and the batsmen have to earn their runs,’’ he said.

"What they, especially the younger players, will have to worry about are the fluctuating conditions in England,’’ he warned.

However, he ranked Pakistan among the favourites, along with South Africa, Australia and England.

Imran described Akhtar as the fastest bowler in the world. "The guy has got good ball control. Seeing Shoaib bowling full throttle is a lovely sight but he will have to change a few things to bowl at that speed in England,’’ he added.

Dreadful batting by India
Geoff Boycott writes

WHAT a dreadful batting display by India! Sometimes you can find good reasons why a team gets bowled out cheaply — maybe the ball seams all over the place or spins and jumps at the batsmen - but on this occasion I can find no excuses for this terrible performance. The pitch was slowish but good enough to make over two hundred runs, and the luck was with India to win the toss. The players let themselves down and all their supporters. They gave an appalling example of poor running between the wickets and lack of batting technique.

Ramesh may have got the ‘man of the match’ award in the last game against Pakistan and talked confidently afterwards, but here he was out lbw twice in the space of three balls! And if he keeps putting his leg in the line of the ball and playing across it, he will get out cheaply a lot more times. His timing is so exquisite on his good days that it covers up a lack of footwork until you see him play poorly on his bad days. Dravid got a harsh decision and Azhar was nearly out off the hat-trick ball. Both of them played back when they should have been forward. Left-arm over the wicket is outward for most right hand batsman as I know only too well but you must try and get forward to negate the angel and the swing. If you get stuck on the crease without footwork, you are dead! Azza survived a few narrow squeaks and then went fishing outside off stumps. It was an awful shot with the bat miles away from his body and every time he sees if replayed he should cringe.

Three down for nothing India were in big trouble; especially with their fragile batting order. When Jadeja scratched around for 14 off 44 balls, only to hole out at cover, then the match was over. Singh, Mongia and Kumble running themselves out was the final nail in the coffin. It couldn't have been any more absurd and the only plus in this batting circus was a decent half-century by Ganguly.

With or without Tendulkar, India might have to rethink their strategy for the World Cup. If you lose early wickets then having only five batsmen can be dodgy. If your five batsmen are outstanding you may get away with it, or if yous bowlers are all-rounders of quality then the batting is lengthened. India don't have either of those and will play the penalty, whatever the quality of the bowling. If you don't make decent totals in one-day cricket, you have had it!

Also it is no good blaming Azza. Some will want to make him the ‘whipping boy’ because he came back to captain in Indian side that lost after Jadeja did a fine job as stand-in captain with three wins. Everyone has a personal view of Azza but whatever his good or bad points, he is the captain for the World Cup. He can't bat for everyone else. True he has to improve his own form and show better shot selection in his batting. But some of the others have to put up their name and admit they batted badly. This one-day stuff is a batting game, that is the bottom line; and improvement is imperative.

Congratulations to Pakistan; they were back to their best. With confidence restored after two losses, they are worthy champions and go forward to the World Cup on a high. They rightly are one of the favourites and have no reason to fear anyone.

— PMG

Do Latif's charges have credence?
By Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 17 — After India's disastrous performance in the final of the Coca Cola Triangular Cricket Tournament at Sharjah last evening, where they were outplayed by Pakistani in all departments of the game, one is likely to give credence to the charge levelled by former Pakistani captain Rashid Latif that Pakistan's match against England in the same tournament was "fixed".

Pakistan lost to England by 62 runs after convincingly beating India and England in the first leg of the double-leg round robin league. Not only that, Pakistan went on to lose to India by a massive six-wicket margin in the second leg of the league, after both the teams had qualified for Friday's final .

"The guys are once again trying to make fools of the public. The way they lost the match, it is obvious that something fishy has once again started in the team," Latif was quoted as saying. The former wicketkeeper-batsman said Saeed Anwar did not play in two recent matches, in which Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in India and to England in Sharjah because "he may not have wanted to be part of the match-fixing."

It is a well known fact that betting in Sharjah is beyond imagination. Senior functionaries of the Board of Control for Cricket in India had gone on record saying that India should not play in any tournament in Sharjah as the game was not played "cleanly" in the desert venue. Also, the involvement of Indian players in "match-fixing" has also been spoken of by many, without, however, anybody offering any concrete evidence.

The charges levelled by Rashid Latif, which were subsequently denied both by the Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram as well as the coach , Javed Miandad, certainly makes sense. By losing two back-to-back league matches, first to England and then to arch rivals India, Pakistan may have done a good turn to the bookies who could then quote a higher odds for the Indians in the final match, thus enabling them to pocket more money.

Also, Pakistan's track record at Sharjah is excellent and there was no obvious reason how England, who looked like novices, in their first match against Pakistan and in both their ties against India, could beat a team like Pakistan, especially after India, who even with some of their top level players missing beat them in both the league matches.

Cricket in Pakistan is currently embroiled in a match fixing controversy and the report of a judicial probe conducted by a high court judge is currently under wraps and will probably be made public after the conclusion of the World Cup in England. The key figures in this match fixing charges are the captain Wasim Akram and Salim Malik, both members of the Pakistan squad to Sharjah.

Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq and Salim Malik were implicated in the interim report of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last year for their alleged involvement in match-fixing and bribery but have been permitted to play in the national squad.

Azhar, Gaekwad blame batsmen

SHARJAH, April 17 (UNI) — Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin and coach Anshuman Gaekwad have both blamed the side’s poor batting for its humiliating loss to Pakistan in the final of the Coca Cola Cup cricket series here on Friday.

"Our batting collapsed and that was the only reason I know", Azharuddin told reporters at the post-match press conference.

Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram, on the other hand, said his team won simply because it was a "far superior side’’.

He said Pakistan had proved this by beating India in India recently, in Canada last year and now here.

Pakistan won the match by eight- wickets, bowling out India for 125 in 45 overs and then scoring 129 for two in 28 overs.

Azharuddin said he did not know anything about "all the talk" about the differences in his style of captaincy and vice-captain Ajay Jadeja’s approach to the task.

"All I know is that we did not play well today and we lost", he said.

Jadeja had led India in three matches during the series because Azharuddin had suffered a toe injury and India won all three of them.

The Indian skipper said he was not under pressure on this issue. "It is the media which is building up a lot of pressure. This is not good for the team. Didn’t Shane Warne lead Australia to victory when Steve Waugh was injured? Why isn’t there a call for removing Waugh?", he asked.

"One hundred and twenty five is not the kind of total you expect your bowlers to defend", the captain said.

"But, still, before going out to field, we had a good talk in the dressing room and I quoted them the previous example where a team faltered getting to 125 runs", he said.

"But Pakistan played sensibly and certainly better than us", Azharuddin said.

India had been similarly dismissed by Pakistan for 125 way back in 1985 here but the Indians had gone on to win the match, bowling Pakistan out for 87.

Azharuddin said his team would be in the right frame of mind for the World Cup beginning next month in England. "We will come back" he asserted.

Gaekwad said the side definitely missed star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who was not picked for the trip to Sharjah because of a bad back.

"But at the same time, he is not the only one the team banks upon. We batted badly today and we lost", he said.

Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, who virtually won the match in the very first over by dismissing two Indian batsmen, said his team won because it was the better side.

"I told you guys after our losses to England and India in the pool games that we are going to come back very strongly," he recalled.

"It is not only Sharjah and Friday... we defeated India in India, in Canada and here in Sharjah today. This shows that we are a far superior side", he said.

Akram literally led from the front yesterday, grabbing three vital wickets for just 11 runs from his eight overs in the final. His performance was all the more commendable because he was running temperature before the match.

"Everybody in the team worked very hard and hats off to the youngsters who are coming up so well. Not only Shoaib Akhtar, we have a couple of more real quick bowlers, who are waiting for their chance", he said.

"Basically, we are enjoying our cricket and are playing positively. That is why we win", he said.

He said his side had a psychological edge. "My boys are hungry for victory and they have proved it here," he said.

He said he had decided to play despite a slight fever and bad throat because he felt his absence could have affected the team’s morale.

"I did not sleep the whole night as I was running a high temperature. But the need to perform in such an important game for my country just pushed me to come up with such an achievement," he said.

"I think winning today’s tournament is the right reward for such a sacrifice," he remarked.

"The wicket was a perfect one-day wicket. And it was my day, too," he smiled.

Akram said he had learnt a lot from former Pakistani skipper Imran Khan and current coach Javed Miandad and was using the knowledge now.

"And the same lessons I am giving to youngsters like Shoaib and Afridi," he said.

Akram felt it was too early to talk about Pakistan’s chances in the World Cup.

"Playing in English conditions is a different ball game. All I can say at the moment is that we will definitely perform well in England. I have some concerns about our middle order and I hope to get it right during our conditioning camp in England," he added.

Azhar fumes at media

SHARJAH, April 17 (PTI) — Clearly rattled by rising criticism of his lacklustre leadership in sharp contrast to his deputy Ajay Jadeja’s performance, Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin has turned his ire on the media.

"I am not under pressure. It is the media which is building up a lot of pressure. It is not good for the team,’ he said at a Press conference after leading India to a shocking defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the Coca Cola cup final here last night.

Obviously unhappy with the comparison to Jadeja, who has won all-round praise for inspiring the team to win three matches, Azhar said: "Did not Shane Warne lead Australia to victory when Steve Waugh was injured? Why isn’t there a call for removing him?"

Azhar, who himself played a reckless shot as India were shot out for 125 after electing to bat first, had little explanation to offer than the obvious. "I don’t know about all the talk about my way of leading the team and Ajay Jadeja’s. All I know is that we did not play well today and we lost. Our batting collapsed and that was the only reason I know."

Victory eludes Anand

DOS HERMANAS (Spain), April 17 (UNI) — Victory continued to elude Vishwanathan Anand in the Dos Hermanas Chess Grandmasters Tournament as he drew his eighth round game against Miguel Illescas of Spain.

Anand is in the ninth position in the ten-player field with three points from six draws in eight rounds.

The Indian Grandmaster is due to face Boris Gefland of Belarus who was defeated by Peter Svidler of Russia in the eighth round.

Michael Adams of England playing a safe game drew against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the 17th move and finished his games with six points from nine games. Earlier he played his ninth round against Karpov. Karpov also finished the eighth round with a draw against Judith Polgar of Hungary in 29 moves from caro-kann.

Kramnik has five points and faces Veslin Topalov of Bulgaria in the final round and stands a chance to catch up with Adams. If he wins, he would have six points after the win and he has a better tie-break score.

In his game, Anand accepted the queen’s gambit against Illescas and preferred to draw rather than fight, possibly owing to tiredness.

Anand’s finish would be one of the lowest in his career and he would lose a lot of ELO points.

In another game Topolov drew with Korchnoi after 61 moves with the latter resorting to perpetual checks for the half-point.

Points: Adams (6), Kramnik (5), Illescas (4.5), Topalov (4.5), Karpov (4.5), Gefland (4.0), Svidler (3.5), Korchnoi (3.5), Anand (3.0) and Polgar (2.5).

Punjab to take on West Punjab
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 17 — The Punjab kabaddi teams of both India and Pakistan will play five-test series which begins from April 18 at Begowal in Kapurthala district.

Mr P.S. Virk, member, Finance of the Tercentenary Birth of the Khalsa Sports Festival, held a press conference at Punjab Bhawan today along with Mr Santokh Singh Mander and Mr Darshan Singh Alohran, co-ordinator. The kabaddi officials accompanying the team also made it clear that it was not the national team of Pakistan but of West Punjab only.

Mr Virk said the winners of the series would win Rs 1.50 lakh while the runners-up would pocket Rs 1 lakh as prize money.

The two teams play their first match of the series at Bagowal tomorrow. the second match is slated at Malerkotla on April 21 while the two teams take on each other at Khanna on April 22. The fourth match on April 25 has been fixed at Badal where, according to the organisers, competition in wrestling and equestrian events will also be held. The fifth and the last 'Test' will be organised at Amritsar on April 28, from where the kabaddi team (Pakistan Punjab) will travel back to Lahore by road.

Members of the Punjab kabaddi team: Lakhwinder Singh Lucky, Harvinder Singh Bindu and Kamaljit Singh (all Jalandhar), Harjinder Singh (Kapurthala), Rajinder Singh Nelon, Jatinder Singh, Kulwinder Singh Ala and Gurnam Singh Lali (all Ludhiana), Malkiat Singh Angrez, Bhupinder Singh and Jagjit Singh Fauji (all PSEB), Jatinder Singh Dadwind, Balwinder Singh Gandhi, and Satnam Singh Nainu (all Kapurthala), Inder Singh, (Faridkot), Yadvinder Singh (Mansa), Bhupinder Singh (Muktsar), and Laddu.

Officials: Devi Dayal and Sardul Randhawa.

Pakistan kabaddi team: Uamar Hayat, Noor Nabi, Mohammad Nawaz, Sajjad Hussain, Mohammad Jaanshed, Mohammad Ishtiaque, Ghulam Abbas, Hammad Javed, Mohammad Aslam, Mohammad Imran Chandia, Manzoor Ahmed Bal, Saghar Ali, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Javed, Charagh-ul-Hussan, Mumtaz Ahmed, Mohammad Akram, Mohammad Shahbaz. Shabir Ahmed, Mohammad Imran, Ch. Sardar Ali, Mohammad Akbar and Mohammad Shahbaz (jr).

Ch. Jaham Khan, manager; Ch Mohammad Ismail, assistant manager, Ch. Muzaffar Ahmed, coach and Raja Tasleem Kayani, assistant coach.

Mantilla ends Moya's ranking dream

BARCELONA, April 17 (Reuters) — An exhausted Carlos Moya saw his hopes of recapturing the world number one ranking dashed yesterday as he stumbled out of the Barcelona Open, losing 4-6 6-2 6-3 to Felix Mantilla.

Second seed Moya, still nursing the thumb injury that forced him out of the Indian Open last week, grafted his way to a three-sets win over fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero before running out of steam in his evening game.

Needing to reach the final to overtake Pete Sampras at the top of the ranking list, Moya let slip a 2-0 lead in the final set as his first serve went to pieces and his groundstrokes lost their fluency under the Barcelona floodlights.

"I did all I could but my first serve just wasn’t worth anything in the evening game," Moya admitted. "As for the number one spot, I’ll just keep trying. I’ve got some tough weeks coming up but hopefully I’ll get it back."

Sampras pulled out of this tournament after aggravating a back injury.

Yesterday’s tough schedule, a result of the rain that washed out play on Thursday, almost accounted for defending champion Todd Martin.

But the American number six seed, ragged after a tough third round match earlier in the day, found reserves of strength to beat Alberto Berasategui 3-6 7-5 6-3.

Martin will face Karim Alami in the semifinal after the Moroccan pulled off a surprise 6-4 7-5 quarter-final win over the in-form Albert Costa.

In the other semifinal Mantilla will play another Spaniard Francisco Clavet, who saw off the attentions of Britain’s Tim Henman in the morning before edging out Brazilian Fernando Meligeni 1-6 7-5 7-6.

In the day’s most intriguing encounter, Martin appeared to be on his way out of the tournament to the man he beat in last year’s final as Berasategui successfully controlled the match from the back of the court.

But from 3-4 down in the second set Martin started to attack Berasategui's serve and eventually ran out a comfortable winner.

Early in the day Martin had been run around the court for much of the second set against Spanish teenager Tommy Robredo before coming through 6-3 7-6, edging out the tie-break 8-6.

He admitted the heavy schedule had almost cost him his place against Berasategui.

"I felt really sluggish between the two games," Martin said after his quarterfinal. "When you have just a couple of hours off between games it’s vital not to start dozing. I couldn’t help myself."

"On top of that Alberto played as well as I’ve seen him in the first set. When he went a break up in the second I had to change tactics. I stood up on his serve and started coming to the net a little more," Martin said.

Moya, meanwhile, was lucky to be through to the quarterfinal stage after being given a real fright by Ferrero, whose never-say-die attitude almost saw him come back from a set and 2-5 down.

The 19-year-old, 15-40 down, hit two superb forehands that clipped the line to save two match points and then clinched five games to take the set.

Moya fell a break behind early in the decider but just managed to hold his nerve for a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 win.

Earlier, fifth seed Henman had struggled on the slow clay courts as he limped to a 6-1 6-4 defeat to clavet.

Nevertheless, Henman was pleased with his performances at Barcelona this week.

"I feel like I’m ready to compete on clay now," Henman said. "Clavet was just more consistent and a better player than (Argentine second round opponent Mariano) Puerta.

"All in all I’m very pleased with this week," he added.

Injured Davenport pulls out of squad

RALEIGH, April 17 (AP) — Croatia’s loss of the home court advantage in this weekend’s Federation Cup series against the USA was balanced out yesterday when the world’s no. 2 player, Lindsay Davenport, pulled out because of a wrist injury.

Iva Majoli, the top-seeded player on the Croatian team, will play second-seeded Chanda Rubin in the first match today. The second match will pit top-ranked Monica Seles against second-seeded Silvija Talaja.

The Federation Cup match was moved from Zagreb, Croatia, because of the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia. The move allowed U.S. Captain Billie Jean King to add Seles, who was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia.

International Tennis Federation officials also decided against playing the series in Hamburg, Germany, where Seles was stabbed during a match nearly six years ago.

The four Croatian women and their captain said they were excited to be playing in Raleigh, with or without Davenport, who decided on Wednesday her wrist was not well enough to play.

This is a big thing for Croatia,’’ said Majoli, who has played in the last seven Federation Cups.

Johl slips to 20th position

MACAU, April 17 (UNI) — In a good position until the end of the second round, Vivek Bhandari and Amandeep Johl slipped in form today to take the 14th and 20th spots respectively at the $ 200,000 Macau Open Golf Tournament here.

Both Bhandari and Johl performed 69s on the first two days and were jointly holding the sixth place. But Bhandari returned with a two over par 74 in the third today while Johl made a poor 75 to come down the leader chart.

Indian ace Jeev Milkha Singh had another miserable round here, carding 76 for a total of 218 that saw him slip down to the 45th place. Three other Indian golfers had failed to make the cut yesterday.

England’s Lee Westwood moved into the third round lead despite bogeying the last two holes.

Spice Challenge Bowl for Parnita
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, April 17 — The seventh Chandigarh Open Amateur Ladies Spice Golf Championship ended at a glittering prize distribution ceremony with the chief guest, Mr Rajan Kashyap, Finance Secretary Punjab, giving away the prizes.

Mr Rajan Kashyap spoke highly about the ladies section and praised all the participants who played in this hot weather.

Mrs Serla Grewal, chief patron, ladies section, thanked the president, Mr Gogi Sibia, and captain of the course, Mr Bunny Sandhawalia, for their co-operation. Mrs Grewal praised Mrs Dalbir Sahi and her committee in running the tournament efficiently.

Mrs Dalbir Sahi, lady captain, thanked Mr Sean Dexter of Spice Telecom and all other sponsors.

The prizes were given away by the club president, Mr Gogi Sibia, Mr Sean Dexter, Mrs Serla Grewal and the chief guest.

Parnita Grewal was presented the Spice challenge bowl.

Punjab Jr B'ball at Pathankot
From Our Sports Reporter
LUDHIANA, April 17 — The 50th Punjab State Junior Basketball Championship for boys and girls will be conducted at Pathankot from April 27 to 29, according to Mr R.S. Gill, president, Punjab Basketball Association.

Players born on or after January 1, 1981, are eligible to participate. Entries close on April 25 with Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, general secretary, PBA, 48-B, Tagor Nagar, Ludhiana.

The performance is this championship will be taken into account while selecting the state teams (boys and girls) for the 50th National Junior Basketball Championship scheduled to be held in Pondicherry from May 21 to 27.

Shuttler Rohit honoured
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, April 17 — A deaf and dumb boy from Bhiwani, Rohit Bhakar, who is a badminton player, was today honoured at a function held at Bhiwani. Rohit was earlier presented with the National Child Award by Ms Uma Bharti, Union Minister, with a cash prize of Rs 5000. Rohit has to his credit a gold medal won at the 18th World Deaf and Dumb Sports Competition held at Copenhagen (Denmark) besides many state and national-level awards.

The Deputy Commissioner, Bhiwani, Mr KS Yadav, while praising the hard work and dedication of Rohit said he brought glory to the district and the state.

UT chess meet from April 24
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, April 17 — The Chandigarh Chess Association will organise the under-12 and under-14 boys and girls, chess championship at the Chess Centre, basement of block-A, hockey stadium, Sector-42, here on April 24 and 25.

The under-12 and under-14 boys and girls teams for the XII National Children's Chess Championship being held at Howrah, from May 25 to June 3 will also be selected.

Entries close on April 23 at 6 p.m. with Mr Satish Dogra ,3336, Sector-15-D; or with Mr Baij Nath Prasad, 1161-B, Sector 41-B, Chandigarh.

Office-bearers
HISAR, (FOSR): — Mr RR Jowel, Director Sports, Haryana, has been unanimously elected president of the newly formed Haryana Tug-of-War Association. Mr RS Nehra Deputy Director, Sports, and Mr Dharmvir of Jhajjar have been elected secretary and treasurer, respectively, of the association.