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| Sunday, March 12, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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India keen to keep up
momentum Aussies hit back to wrest control
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George
Best in hospital Mushtaq alleges regional bias EME triumph; ITBP lose Mahindras favourites against FC
Kochin Bagan outplay SBT 3-0 Churchill meet ITI Indian challenge ends Asiad sponsorships ‘may touch
$ 200 m’ India to host Afro-Asian Games Grand double for Tulpule
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India keen to keep up momentum JAMSHEDPUR, March 11 (PTI) — Fresh from their dramatic three wicket victory in the opening tie, a rejuvenated India will be keen to keep the momentum going when they lock horns with the formidable South Africa in the second game of the five-match one-day international cricket series here tomorrow. The pulsating victory at Kochi will no doubt serve as a huge morale booster for the beleagured India after a string of embarrassing defeats in both Tests and one-dayers and the team under new captain Saurav Ganguly will have to once again put up an inspired show in what promises to be another tall scoring contest at the Keenan Stadium. The innovative Ganguly, using Rahul Dravid as a bowler, managed to check the team’s sliding fortunes at Kochi which came as a whiff of fresh air for Indian cricket fans but the irrepressible South Africans are bound to tighten their game. The much-touted Indian batting line up, which put up an abysmal show during the Australian tour, finally clicked to overhaul a stiff target of 301 runs at Kochi and the skipper will be hoping for a similar effort by the batsmen. The return of one-day specialist Ajay Jadeja and former captain Mohd Azharuddin has lend solidity to the middle order, a problem area during the disastrous tour down under. The stylish Azharuddin, who was dropped from the squad after the World Cup, has shown that age has not diminished his class by slamming a brilliant century in the second Test at Bangalore and chipping in with a useful knock in the first one-dayer. South Africa, led by the wily Hansie Cronje, have a balanced side with a couple of quality all-rounders and it remains to be seen what changes are made as the visitors strive to restore parity. The Proteas missed the bowling abilities of Lance Klusener, who was nursing an ankle injury, and his recovery will be a vital factor. They could bring in paceman Steve Elworthy for Derek Crookes to give a fillip to the attack. With the burden of captaincy removed off maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s shoulders, the Indians will be hoping that he can provide an explosive start in his typical style. The Teams: India (from): Saurav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohd Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh, Sunil Joshi, Samir Dighe, Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Thiru Kumaran, Nikhil Chopra. South Africa (from): Hansie Cronje (capt), Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Derek Crookes, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher, Henry Williams, Shaun Pollock, Mornantau Hayward, Steve Elworthy, Peiter Strydom, Dale Benkenstein, Neil McKenzie. Umpires: C.R. Mohit and Jasbir Singh. Third Upmire: S.K. Tarapore. Match referee: Raman Subba Row (England). Hours of play: 9 a.m. to
12.30 p.m., 1.15 p.m. to 4.45. |
Aussies hit back to wrest control AUCKLAND, Mar 11 (AFP) — Australia, stung after being dismissed for 214 in their first innings, roared back to claim four New Zealand wickets late on the opening day of the first cricket Test today. The Kiwis’ joy at dismissing Australia off just 71 overs was soon wiped away as Steve Waugh’s men applied the blowtorch to have the home side staggering at 26 for four in reply at the close at the Eden Park here.Express bowler Brett Lee claimed two wickets for no runs off his two overs, including bowling nightwatchman Paul Wiseman with the last ball of the day to swing the pendulum back to Australia on an intriguing opening day’s play. Up until the final hour it had been New Zealand’s day as Australia, seeking a record-equalling eighth consecutive Test victory, were made to struggle for runs on a turning pitch. Australia were also mindful that they had lost their last three Tests to New Zealand at Eden Park and had not won here since 1977. Spinners Daniel Vettori
and Wiseman shared eight wickets between them as only
Mark Waugh and Justin Langer defied the New Zealand
bowling. |
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OSAKA (Japan), March 11 (AFP) — Spain and Pakistan made light of cold and wet conditions to play out an exciting 4-4 draw in the Olympic Hockey Qualifying Tournament here today. In other matches, New Zealand came back from the brink to stun Belgium 5-4, Argentina’s Jorge Lombi scored four goals in his side’s 6-0 rout of Belarus, while hosts Japan downed Poland 2-0. Pakistan and Spain justified their top billing in the 12-nation event, which will send six qualifiers to the Sydney Olympics, by producing a fast-paced encounter — despite the near sub-zero conditions and heavy rain. Pakistan’s penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas scored all his team’s four goals and goalkeeper Ahmed Alam saved a penalty stroke but the doughty Spaniards did not give up. The 23-year-old Abbas put Pakistan 2-0 up in the first eight minutes by converting the first two penalty corners. Spain, silver-medallists at the Atlanta Olympics four years ago, earned a lucky break in the 17th minute when Eduard Tubau was stick-checked inside the circle and Jan Dinares cooly put in the resulting penalty stroke. Abbas, showing no signs of the groin injury that kept him out of competitive hockey for four months, increased the margin to 3-1 with another penalty corner scoop in the 25th minute. Spain, however, went into half-time on equal terms at 3-3 as their own corner expert Xavier Ribas struck twice in two minutes just before the break. The sensational Abbas scored once again in the 41st minute, before Tubau earned Spain a draw by deflecting in a penalty corner eight minutes from the end. The draw left both Pakistan and Spain at the top of group B with four points each from two matches, followed one point behind by Malaysia, Argentina and Switzerland. South Korea lead group A with six points, while New Zealand and Britain have four each and Japan three. The Kiwis, trailing by three goals within the first 30 minutes and down 3-4 midway through the second half, fought back to score two match-winning goals in the last quarter against Belgium. New Zealand’s fightback started a minute before half-time when Brett Leaver converted a penalty corner to make it 1-3. In an exciting second half, the Kiwis made it 3-3 within the first nine minutes, before Belgium again took the lead in the 49th through a field goal by Joeri Beunen. New Zealand’s Umesh Parag, playing with three stitches sustained in the previous match against Britain, made it 4-4 in the 56th minute. Craig Reynolds then
scored the match-winner eight minutes before the final
whistle with a penalty corner — New Zealand’s
third conversion of six penalty corners in the match. |
Ambrose, Walsh in fitness race KINGSTON, March 11 (AFP) — The West Indies legendary opening pacemen Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh are struggling to be 100 per cent fit for the opening cricket Test with Zimbabwe which starts next Thursday in Trinidad. The 36-year-old Ambrose, who has taken 369 Test wickets and is considered one of the great fast bowlers of all time, is to have an X-ray today to determine the cause of a recurring swollen left knee. However, Ronald Rogers, the West Indians sports therapist, claimed the injury was not serious enough to rule the beanpole West Indies fast bowler out of the opening Test. “There is no concern about him not being able to play or anything like that,” Rogers said. “He is feeling no pain and the problem has been recurring for years. Its just that I want to know what is causing it in order to deal with it. That’s the reason for the X-ray. Ambrose bowled a five-over spell yesterday during training which simulated match conditions. Once his spell was
complete, he took no further part in training and saw a
doctor who prescribed anti-inflammatories. |
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LONDON, March 11 (AP) — British soccer legend George Best was hospitalised after complaining of severe stomach pain amid reports that his heavy drinking had left him with liver failure. The 53-year-old former winger will remain in hospital for at least a week for treatment and tests but his condition is not life threatening, doctors said yesterday. A statement from Cromwell Hospital in west London said there was “every expectation he would make a substantial recovery.” Best’s physician,
Prof Roger Williams, said the former Manchester United
star was showing signs of improvement, was eating well
and was in good spirits. |
Jeev’s pullout dims India’s chances NEW DELHI, March 11 (UNI) — Ace Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh’s sudden withdrawal on account of a nagging wrist injury has hurt the country’s chances of retaining the $ 300,000 Wills Indian Open which tees off on Thursday at Gurgaon near here for the third consecutive year. Jeev ranked 32nd in the Order of Merit in the European circuit missed the cut two weeks ago in Dubai and then withdrew from the first round of the European tour’s Qatar Open on Thursday after playing four holes. Now it will be upto defending champion Arjun Atwal and Hero Honda two-time champion Jyoti Randhawa along with in-form Gaurav Ghei to counter foreign challenge which is in full strength this year. Another casualty for the team is the withdrawal of Arjun Singh due to a back injury. Mukesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar and Feroz Ali who won the Wills Indian Open at Calcutta will lead the local defence. The Asian challenge will be led by Philippine Open champion Prayad Marksaeng who is also the five-time champion of the Asian PGA Tour followed by Taiwan’s Hong Chia Yu along with countrymen Yeh Wei Tze, winner of million dollar Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur in February. However, a strong contingent from South Africa of 18 players including stars like Wayne Bradley, number two on the South African Order of Merit and Hendrik Buhrmann who became a part of history by winning the first ever Asian PGA Tour event in Thailand in 1995 may cause an upset fourteen players from Australia including Glen Joyner, Cameron Percy and Kenny Druce fresh from the finish of the Australian Tour championship, will be comfortable at the course. The dark horses may be from the 25 strong Japanese contingent. Swedes Stephen Lindskog and Canadian Arden Knoll also arrived on last night. After two rounds there
is a cut off to the top 65 players and ties and the final
round of the Wills Indian Open 2000 will be tomorrow. |
Mushtaq
alleges regional bias NEW DELHI, March 11 — The gentleman that he is, former India opener Capt. Mushtaq Ali, today appealed to all ‘brother cricketers’ not be harsh and critical of the current lot of players and preferred to hold the selectors responsible. “We all have made mistakes, dropped catches and lost matches,” he said while releasing a book: “Cricket Vignettes, Old Masters, Memories” by Pushkar Johari, a former diplomat and cricket commentator. “Have we not made mistakes in life. These things happen in life and as brother cricketer I feel we should not criticise,” Mr Ali, 84, said to the audience which included a fair sprinkling of players of yesteryears. He said it was for the Indian selectors to see what kind of team was being picked to play for the country. Going down the memory lane, Mushtaq Ali said he was picked by a three English selectors to play for India. “They selected me because they thought I had the talent to play for India. Now a days, you have five selectors who are more bothered about picking players from their region,” he said. He also chose to appeal to people to pray for the three of the four players of 1934 test squad who are surviving. Apart from himself, they are Lala Amarnath (89 years), M.J. Gopalan and C.S. Nayudu (both 84). However, former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi disagreed as far as players conduct was concerned. For a person who is not known to hold his punches, Bedi said that the current day players continued to do the same mistake perhaps and hence do not required to be pardoned. Referring to current day controversy over bettings and scandals of match-fixing, Bedi said that it reminded him of the famous quote of cricket writer Neville Cardus who said “cricket is the only sport that reflects time you live in”. He then went on to liken it to the situation in the country and the turmoil in political sphere. LUCKNOW, March 11 (UNI) — Customs, Calcutta moved up in the third round defeating S.R.C. Danapur (Bihar) by two goals to nil in the 20th All-India Prize Money K.D. Singh “Babu’ Invitation Hockey Tournament here today. In the other matches,
EME Jalandhar defeated South Central Railway,
Secunderabad, by a first half goal and Central Industrial
Security Force, Delhi, overcame Indo-Tibetan Border
Police by two goals to nil.
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Mahindras favourites against FC Kochin THRISSUR, March 11 (PTI) —Formidable Mahindra and Mahindra, Mumbai, flying high after their victory over Churchill Brothers, Goa, start as favourites when they take on FC Kochin in a National Football League fixture here tomorrow. Mahindra, with 29 points from 19 matches, are in the fifth position in the 12-team league, while the Kochin team, with 28 points from 17 matches, are in the sixth. The Mumbai outfit, with five foreign players in their ranks, have their morale high after defeating Churchill, currently in the third slot, via by solitary Manjit Singh goal. They will be hoping that the players strike the same form to stop Kochin’s progress in their clash on the morrow. An optimistic Mahindra coach- cum-manager Harish Rao told PTI today: “I am confident my boys will deliver the goods. They are in good form and are raring to go. “Kochin team is a good side and we had drawn goalless in our home match, but have to do well here to further improve our position in the league table.” Mahindras too have problems as Samir Jamal (defender), Nitin Pradhan (striker) and Abhay Kumar (midfielder) are in the injured list. However, the form shown by strikers, Jordanian Bassim Khatib and Mohammed Najib (a former Kochin striker), leading goal scorers for their side with five goals each, should cheer them up. They have a well-knit mid-field spearheaded by the brainy Aqueel Ansari and ably supported by Shamshy Raza, Satish Minz, Khalid Siddique and Abbas Ali Rizvi, while the strong defence is likely to be in the hands of Nigerians Bernard and Christopher, Surmani Singh and Ramesh Rajak. “Mahindras are a tough side and are coming here after beating a strong teams like Churchill. My boys are in good mood and are also in fine nick after our win over Tollygunge,” said a confident T.K. Chathunny, the Kochin team coach. However, the absence of striker Noushad, who scored the crucial winner in their tie against State Bank of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram, here last month and Mahesh Gawli, the stopper back, both with two yellow cards, is likely to be felt. The teams’ fortune lie on the broad shoulders of I.M. Vijayan and Liberian striker Issac Ttondo, who is in fine form. “In the away match in December at Mumbai, Mahindra’s held us to a goalless draw. We were without the three Liberians, who had not joined us that time. Now we are playing in front of our home crowd that is an advantage for us,” said Chathunny. The Kochin team will have to tighten up their defence which happens to be their weak link. However, the team expects captain Joe Paul Anchery, K.V. Dhanesh, Firoz and Mir Hyder to put up a good show at the rear to stop the speedy Najib and Khatib. Tejinder Kumar in the midfield has been a source of inspiration for the team, as he is used to outsmarting rival defenders with intelligent overhead and through passes. The performance of
goalkeeper Saji Joy should boost the team’s morale.
Sunday Seah, Kochin team’s main custodian, has been
outstanding at the goal-post and also in the role of an
attacker, whenever assigned. |
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, March 11 (PTI) — Title aspirants Mohun Bagan strengthened their claim to the 4th National Football League title by beating State Bank of Travancore (SBT) 3-0 here tonight. Striker Igor Shkvirin put Bagan ahead in the ninth minute by netting the ball off a pass by Jose Barreto from the left following a lapse by the SBT defence. The Calcutta giants controlled the match from the start, relentlessly attacking the SBT goal. The home side were handicapped by the absence of injured striker Ashif Sakee and failed to launch a combined move against their rivals. Though Abdul Hakkim and V. Suresh Babu made some good moves in the first half, they could not get past the strong Bagan defence. In the 41st minute, a powerful shot by SBT’s Lenel Thomas narowly missed the target. Bagan’s domination continued in the second half and in the 68th minute, Basudeb Mondal cleanly netted a foul kick taken from just outside the box after Prajeev had handled the ball. Igor scored his second goal when he neatly put into the net a header from Sammy Omolo, who had received a flag kick from captain Lolendra Singh. Mohun Bagan lead the
12-team league with 44 points from 20 matches. Salgoacar
are in the second position with 36 points from 19
matches.SBT are in the ninth spot with 20 points. |
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BANGALORE, March 11, (UNI) — Third placed Churchill Brothers of Goa will have to go all out against local challengers Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) to keep their chances of being on the top alive in the National Football League here tomorrow. With a poor away record and the players not recovering from a 15-hour “horrenduous” bus journey from Goa to Bangalore, Churchill brothers have a tough and unenviable job on hand as ITI are also eager to score a victory to avoid relegation. Churchill Brothers
slipped to third position following a loss to Mahindra
and Mahindra in the previous match in Goa and have 35
points from 19 encounters. ITI have not been able to rise
above the 10th position for a long time and have 14
points from 19 matches. |
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LONDON, March 11 (PTI) — The Indian challenge in the All-England Badminton Championships ended when national champion Aparna Popat went down to China’s Gong Zhichao in the women’s singles third round at Birmingham. Aparna, the world No 26 who showed good form in the recent Uber Cup qualifiers at New Delhi and in the Kochi nationals, fought well in the first game but was totally outclassed in the second and went down 7-11, 1-11 to the strong Chinese. Aparna was the lone Indian to reach the third round. Nikhil Kanetkar, spearheading the men’s challenge in the absence of top Indian Pulella Gopi Chand who pulled out due to typhoid, and Sidharth Jain fell in the singles second round. Women’s No 2, B.R.
Meenakshi, seasoned Manjusha Kanwar and men’s No 3
Abhinn Shyam Gupta all failed to clear the first hurdle. |
Asiad
sponsorships ‘may touch $ 200 m’ CHANDIGARH, March 11 — “If India gets the 2006 Asian Games the total earnings from sponsorships could touch nearly $ 200 million” according to Mr Randhir Singh, secretary general, Indian Olympic Association, who was in the city today. He said since multinationals were eyeing India, the selling of sport had become easier. Mr Randhir Singh, who is also the secretary of the Olympic Council of Asia, said the contest for the 2006 games was restricted to Malaysia and India. The IOA will also establish a fund whose interest will be utilised for the betterment of players. At present the IOA is spending money on foreign coaches and players, including. Abhinav Bindra (shooting), Nisha Millet (swimming) and Neha Ahuja (winter sport). He said the grant of 100 per cent tax concession to the IOA was a blessing in disguise. When asked how these concessions would be utilised, Mr Singh said the sponsors, the respective Olympic association and the host would have a tipartite agreement to avail the benefit. The Finance Minister wanted that IOA to be the regulatory body so that funds thus generated are not misappropriated. Mr Randhir Singh was critical of the working of the Sports Authority of India. When asked how the IOA would be promoting sport at the grassroots, he said they would go in for zonal academies. He said if Bangalore had good badminton players then the badminton academy would be based there. Football has good potential in Calcutta and Punjab and as such the academies would be based there. Mr Singh is of the
opinion that foreign coaches must be called for at least
two years for coaching assignments. |
India to
host Afro-Asian Games CHANDIGARH, March 11 — India will host the first Afro-Asian Games in six sport disciplines — athletics, boxing, football, shooting, swimming and lawn tennis — from November 3 to 11, 2001, at New Delhi. Disclosing this to newsmen today, Raja Randhir Singh, Secretary-General of the Afro Asian Games Council, told that the council would look after the interests of two continents, Africa having 53 Olympic council countries and Asia comprising of 43 such council countries which is almost half of the Olympic movement. Raja Randhir Singh who is also the Secretary-General of the Indian Olympic Association said that the concept of Afro-Asian Games was formulated by Raja Bhalendra Singh, the then president of 1982 Delhi Asian Games Federation. But in 1998 Olympic councils of Asia and Africa met to form the Afro-Asian council to sincerely look after the interest of these two continents to promote sports in a big way. At present the council has Mr Sheikh Ahmed Al Rahad Al Sabah of Kuwait as President, Major General Francis Nyangweso of Uganda as Vice President and Wei Jizhong of China as chairman, sports committee. When asked why only six disciplines had been chosen, Mr Randhir Singh said to begin with a limited number of sport disciplines had been taken up. Gradually more sport events will be added. The venue for athletics will be Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium Boxing bouts will be held at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, in which top four boxers from Africa in each category, top three boxers from Asia in each category and one boxer from India in each category will participate. Similarly, football match will be played at Ambedkar Stadium and National Stadium. Two pools will have best four teams from Africa, best three teams from Asia and one from India. Shooting competition will be held at Tughlakabad ranges. Four shooters from Africa in each event, three shooters from Asia and one shooter from India will be allowed. Swimming competition will be held at Talkatora pool, while competition in lawn tennis will be at the DLSTA courts which have abundant facilities with synthetic and clay and grass courts. It will have entries of four players from Africa in men and women, three players from Asia in each event and one player from India in each event. Mr Randhir Singh further
informed that it being a big global extravaganza running
into several lakhs of dollars, the amount of sponsorships
could be massive. He also told that they will like to
have tie-ups with national as well as global channels to
give better mileage to sponsors. |
Garry Kasparov,Kramnik joint winners LINARES, March 11 (UNI) — For the first time in the history of the Linares Super GM Chess Tournament, two players — Russians Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik — shared the top place and were declared joint winners at the end of the 17th edition of the tournament. All three games in the final round, including the one between Anand and Kasparov, ended in draws and, interestingly, there was a tie on the points for the first time in 15 years as both Kramnik and Kasparov had six points each while the remaining four players, including Anand, had an identical 4.5 points each. So there were just two
positions-either joint first or joint second. CALCUTTA, March 11 (PTI) Promising Maharashtra teenager Radhika Tulpule completed a grand double by winning the ladies singles title while top seed Syed Fazaluddin bagged the men’s singles crown in the Senior National Grasscourt Tennis Championships here today. Eighteen-year-old Tulpule, who had won the ladies doubles title partnering Janaki Krishnamoorhty yesterday, shocked top seed Sai Jayalakshmi in a tough three-setter 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to win her maiden appearance in a senior national singles final. The men’s singles final, in contrast, was a tame affair with Fazaluddin easily dominating to score a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fifth-seeded Vijay Kannan. In men’s doubles,
reigning champions and top seeds Sourav Panja and Nitin
Kirtane retained the title with a facile straight sets
victory over Mustafa Ghouse and Vishal Uppal 6-4, 6-2. |
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