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| Monday, April 3, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Uphill task for Punjab |
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Anand tops group, moves into semis
Jadeja plays April fool’s
joke on fans
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CHENNAI, April 2 (UNI) — Punjab captain Vikram Rathore’s brilliant 127 went in vain as the visiting team failed to set a challenging target before hosts Tamil Nadu on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here today. At stumps, Tamil Nadu were 30 for one in the second innings while chasing an easy target of 164 to enter the semis. Opener S. Ramesh (11) and H. Badan (40) were at the wicket after the hosts had a poor start losing southpaw S. Sriram for 13. With nine wickets in hand, Tamil Nadu require 151 runs to win the match. Rathore resumed his innings at the overnight score of 37 and completed his 50 in 11 overs. But his century was a painstaking effort that came in 226 balls. None of the Punjab batsmen showed patience to stay on the wicket and Rathore found himself running out of partners at one end. In the ninth over of the day’s, medium pacer T. Kumaran got Pankaj Dharmani caught by wicket-keeper Reuben Paul. Pankaj made just 15. And added 29 runs for the third wicket. Rathore added 41 runs with Youraj Singh, who fell to a catch by Hemang Badani off medium pacer Gokulakrishnan to see Punjab in trouble at 197-4. But Vikram Rathore took no chances keeping his end and added 64 runs for the fifth wicket with left hander Dinesh Mongia. However, Punjab suffered another blow to be reduced to 261-5 as makeshift left armer Hemang Badani forced Dinesh to edge one to keeper Reuben Paul. Dinesh’s 35 was compiled in 101 minutes with five fours as Punjab were 278-6, only 75 runs ahead of Tamil Nadu. Sandeep Sharma had the pressure on him to carry on the task of increasing the lead for Punjab. He batted on with ease. But Sarandeep Singh fell, snicking medium pacer Rajat Bhatia, scoring 13 in 42 minutes with two fours. Punjab were 362 for eight. Two runs later Harbhajan Singh also edged Rajat Bhatia to Kumaran at second slip for a duck. Sandeep Sharma completed his half century and remained unbeaten on 51 as Punjab second innings ended with Rajat Bhatia picking up his third wicket forcing R.P. Singh to edge and give wicket keeper Reuben Paul his fifth catch in the innings. SCOREBOARD Punjab (second innings): Vikram Rathore c Gokulakrishnan b Mahesh 127 R.S. Sodhi c Reuben Paul b Mahesh 89 Harminder Jugnu run out 0 Pankaj Dharmani c Paul b Kumaran 15 Youraj Singh c Hemang Badani b Gokulakrishnan 24 Dinesh Mongia c Paul b Badani 35 Sanjay Kumar b S. Sriram 0 Sandeep Sharma not out 51 Sarandeep Singh c Paul b Rajat Bhatia 13 Harbhajan Singh c Kumaran b Bhatia 0 R.P. Singh c Paul b Bhatia 0. Extras: (b-2, lb-6, nb 4) 12. Total: (all out in 117 overs) 366 Fall of wickets: 1-126, 2-127, 3-156, 4-197, 5-261, 6-278, 7-333, 8-362, 9-364. Bowling: T. Kumaran 21-3-75-1; Mahesh 18-1-59-2; Gokulakrishnan 15-2-49-1; Aashish Kapoor 26-4-75-0; Rajat Bhatia 8-0-18-3; Hemang Badani 11-4-36-1; Sriram 18-2-46-1. Tamil Nadu (second innings): S. Sriram c Harminder Jugnu b R.P. Singh 13 Sadagoppan Ramesh batting 11 Hemang Badani batting 4. Extras: (nb-2) 2. Total: (for one wkt in 13 overs) 30. Fall of wickets: 1-22. Bowling: Sandeep Sharma
2-0-11-0; R.P. Singh 4-0-10-1; Harbhajan Singh 5-3-8-0;
R.S. Sodhi 2-1-1-0. |
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HAMILTON (New Zealand), April 2 (AFP) — Australia were 73 runs away from a series clean sweep and their 10th consecutive Test victory after the third day of the third and final cricket Test against New Zealand here today. When bad light stopped play eight overs from the end, Australia, needing 210 runs to win, had sprinted to 137 for three off 28 overs with the Test at their mercy with two days play remaining. Number 3 Justin Langer led the Australian assault with a brisk unbeaten 72 as the Australians scored at around five runs an over to all but end the Kiwis’ hopes of an upset victory. The last rites are expected to be performed early tomorrow unless weather intervenes. Australia have already claimed the series with wins in the Auckland and Wellington Tests and are bidding for Test win no. 10, which would be just one short of the West Indies’ record of 11. Any New Zealand hopes of an early tremor in the Australian innings ended after Michael Slater’s dismissal for nine in the fourth over were blown away by Langer and Matthew Hayden’s aggressive approach. The pair put on 83 runs for the second wicket in 60 minutes to swing the odds of victory solidly towards Steve Waugh’s Australians. The Kiwis removed Hayden for 37 when he went to drive spinner Paul Wiseman and edged to Craig Spearman at slip. Mark Waugh was out to a dreadful decision by New Zealand umpire Steve Dunne, who ruled he was out to a bad-pad catch to Mathew Sinclair off Wiseman for 18 when television replays clearly showed that the ball had struck Waugh’s thrusting pad. At the close, Steve Waugh was on one with Langer on 72. The Australians dismissed the Kiwis for 209 in their second innings. Chris Cairns again played another of his free-hitting knocks to push the New Zealand total past 200 after they were struggling at 130 for six at lunch. Cairns smashed 10 boundaries and two sixes in his 71 off 104 balls to revive the Kiwi innings through partnerships of 35 with Adam Parore (16) and 54 with Paul Wiseman (16). Glenn McGrath grabbed the vital breakthrough when he deceived Cairns with a slower delivery and bowled him for the ninth wicket. It continued a marvellous series for Cairns who scored 35 and 20 in the first Test, 109 and 69 at Wellington and 37 and 71 in this Test for a series aggregate of 341 runs. Brett Lee, who took Test best five for 77 in the first innings, finished with three for 46 off 18.4 overs while new ball bowling partner McGrath claimed the key wickets of Cairns and Parore. New Zealand (2nd
innings) Horne run out 0 Spearman c Gilchrist b Lee 35 Sinclair lbw b Miller 24 Fleming c Gilchrist b Miller 2 Astle c Gilchrist b Warne 26 McMillan c M. Waugh b Warne 30 Cairns b McGrath 71 Parore c Gilchrist b McGrath 16 Wiseman c Gilchrist b Lee 16 Tuffey not out 1 O’Connor lbw b Lee 0 Extras: (nb-4 lb-4) 8 Total: (86.4 overs) 229 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-49, 3-53, 4-71, 5-111, 6-130, 7-165, 8-220 9-228, 10-229 Bowling: McGrath 20-7-50-2, Lee 19.4-2-46-3, Miller 20-5-58-2, Warne 25-11-61-2, S. Waugh 3-0-10-0. (Australia 2nd innings): Hayden c Spearman b Wiseman 37 Slater lbw b O’Connor 9 Langer not out 71 M. Waugh c Sinclair b Wiseman 18 S. Waugh not out 1 Extras: (lb-1) 1 Total: (28 overs, three wickets) 137 Fall of wickets: 1-13,
2-96, 3-124. Bowling: Cairns 7-1-41-0, O’Connor
5-1-22-1, Wiseman 9-1-42-2, Tuffey 7-1-31-0 |
Campbell stars in Windies’ win KINGSTON, April 2 (AFP) — Sherwin Campbell hit his maiden limited overs international hundred while skipper Jimmy Adams came up with a fine all-round performance in the West Indies’ 87-run triumph over Zimbabwe at Sabina Park here last evening in the triangular international one-day series. Campbell, named man-of-the-match, struck eight boundaries in his 103 off 130 balls and shared a vital 141 runs for the third wicket with Jimmy Adams to be the foundation of the West Indies’ 237 for nine off 50 overs after they were sent in to bat. Adams, who gathered 60 off 84 balls in the West Indies innings, returned to capture three wickets for 19 runs from seven overs as Zimbabwe went into decline after an 86-run, third-wicket stand between top-scorer Murray Goodwin and Stuart Carlisle to be bowled out for 150 in 41.4 overs. Adams’ three wickets, including Goodwin, whose 52 off 57 balls contained four fours, fell in the space of 13 balls and triggered a collapse which saw Zimbabwe lose their last eight wickets for 34 runs in 13 overs. New-ball bowlers Reon King and Curtly Ambrose had accounted for opening batsmen Neil Johnson, caught at first slip, and Grant Flower, caught at mid-on, respectively inside the first 10 overs of the innings. A typically confident innings from Goodwin, along with Carlisle’s resolute batting got Zimbabwe moving. They batted almost 20 overs together during which time they hit all but one of the nine boundaries in their team’s innings. King, however, broke the stand in the 29th over when Carlisle was bowled, chopping the ball into his stumps, for 37 off 94 balls that included four fours to leave Zimbabwe 116 for three. They never recovered and the West Indies coasted to their seventh win in limited-overs internationals over the Africans. Earlier, Campbell anchored the West Indies innings before he was one of four batsmen run out in the final 10 overs when the Maroons lost seven wickets for 55 runs. Outside of Campbell and Adams, only Ridley Jacobs with 32 off 25 balls showed any enterprise for the West Indians, who will be looking to keep their faultless record against the Zimbabweans in the second match today at the same ground. SCOREBOARD West Indies: Wallace b Olonga 6 Campbell run out 103 Gayle c A. Flower b Brent 4 Adams run out 60 Powell c Wishart b Nkala 0 Jacobs c Olonga b Brent 32 Hinds run out 10 Rose b Streak 1 Dillon run out 1 Ambrose not out 0 King not out 0 Extras (lb4, w12, nb4) 20 Total (nine wkts, 50 overs) 237 Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-41, 3-182, 4-188, 5-190, 6-228, 7-234, 8-237, 9-237. Bowling: Streak 10-0-44-1, Olonga 8-0-36-1, Brent 10-0-49-2, Nkala 7-0-36-0; G. Flower 10-0-44-0, Johnon 3-0-15-0, Goodwin 2-0-9-0. Zimbabwe: Johnson c Gayle b King 6 G. Flower c Rose b Ambrose 9 Carlisle b King 37 Goodwin c Wallace b Adams 52 A. Flower c Powell b Dillon 7 Campbell st Jacobs b Adams 1 Wishart st Jacobs b Powell 15 Streak c wkpr Jacobs b Adams 0 Nkala b Dillon 1 Brent lbw b Powell 2 Olonga not out 5 Extras (lb-7, w-3, nb-5) 15 Total (all out 41.4 overs) 150 Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-30, 3-116, 4-116, 5-118, 6-128, 7-131, 8-136, 9-141. Bowling: Ambrose
7-1-18-1, King 8-0-30-2, Dillon 9-0-34-2, Rose 6-1-21-0,
Gayle 3-0-16-0, Adams 7-0-19-3, Powell 1.4-0-5-2. |
Davenport falls to Hingis in final KEY BISCAYNE, April 2 (AFP) — Martina Hingis has ended her five-match losing streak to Lindsay Davenport, Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, 6-3, 6-2 last night to take the WTA Tennis Masters Series Ericsson Open title. The 19-year-old Swiss star had not beaten her 23-year-old American rival since the season-ending WTA Championships of 1998, dropping their past five matches and eight of their past 10 meetings. Hingis lost in finals at Sydney, Philadelphia, the 1999 WTA final, the Australian Open and Indian Wells since last beating Davenport. Another planned finals matchup last month in Scottsdale, Arizona, was wiped out due to rain. “It’s great to win a big one again,” Hingis said. “I’m finally winning a great tournament again. I had Tokyo but Lindsay wasn’t there. Here it’s special. It’s where I became No 1 for the first time.” Hingis, who won $ 350,000 here, was the top seed and world No 1 with Davenport a close second entering the event by virtue of her title-winning triumphs over the Swiss star. Despite the defeat, Davenport will move ahead of Hingis into the top spot tomorrow when the latest WTA rankings are released. Davenport’s win streak was the longest by a WTA player since Hingis began the 1997 season 37-0. Davenport is 24-2 this year, her only prior loss coming to France’s Amelie Mauresmo in the Sydney final last January. Davenport, who leads the career rivalry with Hingis 11-8, was down a set and a break two weeks ago in Indian Wells before roaring back to take the final 10 games and the match. But here she struggled early and was never able to slow Hingis’ march to the title. Hingis, the 1997 champion here, rose to 25-3 this year with her 28th career WTA singles crown and second of the year. Davenport missed a chance for her 29th career title. Part of the problem Davenport had was the energy lost in an emotional semifinal victory over France’s Sandrine Testud, a triumph that clinched Davenport’s rise to No 1. “I wasn’t
serving consistently. I didn’t return well,”
Davenport said. “After winning against Sandrine, I
almost felt I had left everything that night. I had a day
off and that’s not an excuse, but I felt really
flat.” |
Thumping win for Manchester United LONDON, April 2 (AFP) — Paul Scholes scored hit a hat-trick as Manchester United took another giant step towards their sixth English Premiership title in eight years with a thumping 7-1 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford last night. Denis Irwin, Andy Cole, David Beckham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were the other goalscorers as the reigning English, European and Intercontinental champions and outgoing FA Cup holders landed their biggest win of the season to stretch their lead over second-placed Leeds to 10 points. Leeds’ title bid suffered a major setback when they were beaten 0-1 at home by Chelsea, re-opening the race for the three places in next season’s Champions League with just seven matches to go. Liverpool moved within a point of Leeds as their revival continued with a comfortable 3-0 win at Coventry. England striker Michael Owen celebrated his return to the Liverpool line-up by scoring twice while his international colleague Emile Heskey scored his first goal for the Reds since his recent move from Leicester. Fourth-placed Arsenal kept alive their hopes of a top three finish with a 3-1 victory at struggling Wimbledon despite having defender Oleg Luzhny sent off just before half-time. Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu scored twice and in-form substitute Thierry Henry converted a late penalty after Andreas Lund had given the Dons an early lead. Wimbledon’s Jason Euell was sent off two minutes from time. Manchester United, unbeaten at Old Trafford this season, fell behind to a goal from Costa Rican Paulo Wanchope in the 11th minute but hit back in devastating fashion. The reigning European champions led 3-1 at the interval and then added a further four goals before easing the pressure in the final 20 minutes. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson hailed his team after a victory that leaves them needing a maximum of just 11 points in the run-in to retain their crown. “It was an outstanding performance. We were absolutely superb,” said the Scotsman who was presented with an award for `manager of the decade’ before kick-off. Leeds, beaten at Leicester last weekend, saw their hopes of catching Sir Alex Ferguson’s leaders recede further as Chelsea grabbed only their fifth win at Elland Road in 40 years. Jon Harley, one of four Englishmen in Chelsea’s line-up, scored the only goal of a disappointing game in 62nd minute as Chelsea, currently fifth, moved to within five points of Leeds and the second automatic Champions League spot. Leeds manager David O’Leary, who was heard lambasting his players in the dressing room after the match, conceded that the Yorkshire club’s title dream was over. “I have said all season that Manchester United are the best team in the country,” said the Irishman. “I would be extremely surprised if they were not to win it now.” Liverpool strikers Owen and Heskey gave England manager Kevin Keegan a lift ahead of Euro 2000. The 20-year-old Owen announced his return to form after a lengthy injury lay-off with two goals in the first half as Liverpool made light work of Coventry. Heskey, who is hoping to join his strike partner in Keegan’s final 22-man squad, sealed Liverpool’s victory 12 minutes from time. Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, who left Owen on the bench in last yesterday’s 2-1 win over Newcastle, said he was delighted by the striker’s return to form. Arsenal needed all their famous battling qualities to beat Wimbledon at Selhurst Park after conceding an early goal and playing the second half with 10 men after Luzhny’s dismissal for a professional foul on goalscorer Andreas Lund. Luzhny was the seventh Arsenal player to be sent off this season and the 29th since manager Arsene Wenger arrived at Highbury three-and-a-half years ago. But Wenger denied Arsenal were a dirty team, insisting: “I know I will be bombarded with the 29, but what can I do? I feel we did not behave unfairly today, and it’s unlucky.” In other matches, two goals from American Joe-Max Moore helped mid-table Everton to a 4-2 win over bottom-placed Watford, who remain nine points adfrift of safety. Bradford City also look doomed to an instant return to the first division after they were beaten 2-0 at Newcastle. Welshman Gary Speed and England captain Alan Shearer scored the goals for the Magpies. Sunderland won their
second consecutive game after three months without a win
as Southampton crashed 2-1 at home. |
UP stun Assam in Santosh Trophy CHALAKUDY (Kerala), April 2 (PTI) — Uttar Pradesh inflicted a 3-2 defeat on strong Assam in a cluster-v match and garnered full points in the 56th Senior National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy here today. The winners led 1-0 at half-time in the match which was replayed today after being abandoned yesterday due to rain. Uttar Pradesh forged ahead through medio Nandan Singh Adhikari in the 42nd minute and increased their lead in the 51st minute through striker Ajay Singh Rawat. The winner was fired in by Jatin Singh Bisht in the 81st minute. For the losers, striker Akum Ao scored both the goals in the 80th and 81st minute, the second off a penalty. Uttar Pradesh enjoyed territorial superiority in the first session with some quick attack from both flanks that had the Assam defence in all sorts of problems. They got their reward in the 42nd minute when hardworking Adhikari beat custodian Suraj Bhadur Gurang, who was shaky under the Assamese bar, with a right footer. Nine minutes later, nippy striker Rawat struck the second goal. Uttar Pradesh could have further increased their lead had their strikers been on target. Though they were able to take the ball into the box, they fumbled at crucial stages. Assam increased the pace of the game to go all out for a goal and after missing a couple of chances, Akum Ao beat the UP goalkeeper Akhilesh Sharma, who was outstanding with his collections till that time, and banged to his left to reduce the margin in the 80th minute. Assam kept up the tempo and duly struck the equaliser a minute later. The goal came after a penalty was awarded to Assam when UP’s Rawat handled the ball inside the penalty area and referee Ravikumar of Tamil Nadu had no hesitation in pointing to the dreaded spot. Rawat was also given a yellow card for the foul. Akum Ao who took the kick beat Sharma much to the delight of his team-mates and the crowd. The cheers had hardly died down when Jatin Singh Bisht struck the winner for UP with nine minutes left for the final whistle and helped his side collect three vital points in the three-team league. Later, in another match, Tripura, displaying good skill defeated Pondicherry 2-0 in their opening encounter in this three-team league. Tripura’s medio
drew the first blood for his side in the very sixth
minute of the game fully taking advantage off a neat
square pass from Paresh Mukherjee on the right flank.
Striker Arindam Ghosh sealed the fate of the match in
Tripura’s favour with a goal in the 53rd minute. |
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BANGKOK, April 2 (UNI) — India’s chances of getting more boxing berths in the Sydney Olympic received shot in the arm as Asian Games bantam weight gold medallist NG Dingko Singh gave a dazzling display in the ring, in his favourite city, thrashing Cambodia’s Mean Soeun to move into the next round of the King’s Cup Tournament here today. It was a good day for India as Narender Rana also chalked out a facvile win in the light category beating Phay Sithong Kouang Vanh of Laos. With this, four Indians have made it to the next round. Yesterday H. Srinivas Rao (fly weight) and Sanjit Singh (lt welter) had won their bouts. Dingko, winner of gold here in 1998 Asian Games, was far too superior and recorded rather easy win. From the first bell he held sway in the opening round. After that it became a sort of cat-and-mouse game as Dingko chased his opponent all over the ring and the hapless Cambodian trying hard to avoid punishment. His misery ended when the refree stopped the contest. “I could have knocked him out in the first round itself but I wanted to get the feel of the ring, so I held off” Dingko said. Narender Rana also did not face much resistance from his rival Kouangvanh as he stormed into quarterfinal. Rana adopted ‘slow
and sure’ policy,taking his time with the punches,
but making each count. Kouangvanh tried to fight back at
the end of the first round,landing a punch squarely on
the Indian’s face. |
India claim 5 titles in youth chess TEHRAN, April 2 (PTI) — India’s rising stars completed a near sweep as they showcased their domination to garner five of the six titles besides finishing second and third in two age groups in the Asian Youth Chess championships. The Indians capped a superb display in the continental championship which they dominated from the outset by clinching their richest ever haul of five gold, one silver and a bronze after entering the final day assured of three titles. After Pendyala Harikrishna had retained the boys under-14 title and child prodigies Abhinav Mekala (boys under-10) and V K Sindhu (girls under-10) had sealed their wins yesterday, India bagged two of the three golds on offer on the final day. Former world under-12 bronze medallist Tania Sachdev claimed the girls’ under-14 gold along with Abhijeet Gupta in the boys’ under-12 section, which saw a 1-2 sweep with G Rohit taking silver. Tania Sachdev beat A Samaganova (4) of Kyrgystan with white pieces in a king’s Indian defence game in the ninth and final round to tie with D Tuitedaeva of Kazaksthan with seven points. Tania was declared winner on better tie-break score. Abhijeet Gupta defeated B Abdi (4.5) of Iran in the queen’s gambit declined variation with white pieces to claim the top spot with 7.5 points. G Rohit completed the 1-2 for India by beating China’s G Guangyao (6.0) to finish with 6.5 points. Soumya Swaminathan (6.5) took bronze in the girls’ under-12 section where Iran’s A Pourkashin prevented an Indian sweep by winning gold with seven points. Soumya (6.5) defeated M Teimoori (2) of Iran in a Ruy Lopez opening with white pieces to win the bronze in the only section not captured by the Indians. Local star Pourkashian claimed the gold in the section with a comfortable victory against India’s K Nadiq (5). Having already established their ascendancy, Harikrishna, who retained his title after gaining an unassailable lead in the penultimate round yesterday, Abhinav Mekala and Sindhu settled for draws in the final round today to confirm their titles. Harikrishna, India’s youngest international master at 13 years, drew with S Y Sajed (5.5) of Iran in the English opening game. The Andhra Pradesh lad finished with a creditable 7.5 points from nine rounds. In the boys’
under-10, Mekala drew with A Tatishev of Kazakhstan with
black pieces while Sindhu signed the peace treaty with D
Saeedpur (4.5) of Iran with black pieces in French
defence to end her campaign. |
I believe Martina loves me: stalker SYDNEY, April 2 (AFP) — A Croatian-born Australian citizen charged in the USA with stalking Martina Hingis has told an Australian newspaper that he loves the Swiss tennis star and believes she loves him. “Why would I ever want to harm her when one day she could be my wife? Dubravko Rajcevic (45) told Sydney’s Sun-Herald tabloid in Miami where he was arrested at a major tennis tournament. Hingis was competing in the Ericsson Open on Wednesday when her coach and mother, Melanie Molitor, reported Rajcevic to the police as being a stalker who had pursued the world No. 1 around the world swamping her with letters and faxes. The police later issued Rajcevic with a warning not to enter the tournament grounds again, but less than 24 hours later he was back sitting at the courtside. He was arrested and charged, but released on a $ 1,000 bond. In Miami on Thursday Hingis trounced former world No. 1, Monica Seles, who was injured and badly emotionally scarred by a stalker who stabbed her during a tournament a few years ago. Seles’s career stumbled badly after the stabbing incident. But Rajcevic vowed he would never hurt Hingis, whom he said would be with him now if it were not for the people around her. He reportedly told the Sun-Herald from his Miami hotel that he had left his home in Perth after separating from his wife and son last June. “We divorced and I needed to have space so I moved to Croatia — but I will probably return (to Australia) in time for the Olympics”, he said. When I left my wife, I immediately became emotionally involved with Martina. I love her, I think she loves me, but she is not yet free because of the people who she has around her. “They say I distract Martina from her professional commitments. But I am no stalker. She feeds off my positive energy, she knows me well”. Rajcevic said he travelled to the USA only after sending Hingis a fax “and she sent a message back saying it was fine for me to come”. He admitted he had sent
her 100 faxes, about 50 letters and said he had received
positive feedback from her each time. |
Anand tops group, moves into semis REYKJAVIK (Iceland), April 2 (PTI) — Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India showed flashes of brilliance as he topped his group to move into the knock-out semifinals and raise hopes of an expected title showdown with Garry Kasparov in the Iceland Rapid Chess tournament at the Kopavogur concert hall here. Russia’s Kasparov, the world’s best chess player, topped the other group to make it to the next round alongwith GMs Margier Petursson of Iceland and Alexander Wojtkeiwicz of Poland. Anand, who looked slightly out of touch in recent times failing to do much in the Linares classical tournament and the Amber rapid and blindfold event, seemed to have got back his rhythm as he won three games quite comprehensively and drew two to gain four points out of a possible five and topped group B. The Indian world No 2 had an easy outing in the first game against GM Johann Hjartarsson of Iceland, winning in a long drawn rook ending after 58 moves. He then defeated Wojtkeiwicz in the second game with white pieces and settled for a draw with former world under-16 champion Henry Stefansson of Iceland. Anand assured himself a berth in the next round with a win in the fourth game against Bosnian Ivan Sokolov. A draw in the last outing against Igor Arnasson of Iceland saw him finishing at the top of his group, ahead of Wojtkeiwicz who finished with 3.5 points. In group ‘A’ that comprised ‘senior’ participants, Kasparov had no problems proving his superiority over the field. Kasparov — at 38, the youngest in his group — drew his first game against veteran Victor Korchnoi of Switzerland and then won the remaining four games to finish with 4.5 points, 1.5 ahead of Petursson, the other qualifier from group A. Anand will take on Petursson while Kasparov matches his wits against Wojtkeiwicz in the next round. The winner of the two clashes will meet for the title. If that game ends in a draw, two five minute games will be played. If the stalemate continues, there will be another play-off game in which white will have four minutes to five for black. The player with black pieces will be declared the winner in case of a draw. Final standings: Group A: Gary Kasparov (Russia) 4.5 pts, M. Petursson (Iceland) 3, J. Timman (Netherlands) 2.5, H Olafsson (Iceland) 2.5, F Olafsson (Iceland) 1.5, Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) 1. Group B: Vishwanathan Anand
(India) 4 pts, A. Wojtkeiwicz (Poland) 3.5, Ivan Sokolov
(Bosnia) 3, H Stefansson (Iceland) 2.5, J Hjartarsson
(Iceland) 1.5, J Arnason (Iceland) 0.5. |
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MILTON KEYNES, April 2 (PTI) — India ended their disastrous campaign in the women’s Olympic hockey qualifying tournament, losing 1-2 to Russia in the 9th-10th place play-off to finish last without a single win here yesterday. India, who lost all their games in group A league, came back well to level scores after Russia went ahead within two minutes of the start. But the Russian eves scored the winner in the 45th minute to seal the fate of the Indians. Russia opened their account in the second minute through Sviridova but the Indians rallied well and levelled through Mamata Kharab in the 18th minute. Loudeovskia sounded the board in the 45th minute to clinch the issue for Russia. India, who had raised expectations by winning the silver medal at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games and at the Asia Cup in New Delhi last year, went into the tournament without five senior players who opted out because of personal reasons. And the effect was there for all to see as the inexperienced team led by goalkeeper Tingongleima Chanu failed to come terms with the extremely cold conditions and the European style of fast hockey and failed to win a single match. India lost 1-3 to Spain,
0-1 to Ireland, 0-4 to Germany and 1-2 to the USA In the
league matches. |
Jadeja plays April fool’s joke on fans NEW DELHI, April 2 (PTI) — Star cricketer Ajay Jadeja yesterday played an April fool’s joke when he announced on a private television channel that he was retiring from active cricket to take to acting. The seasoned middle-order batsman expressed his desire to join Bollywood in search for more glory in an “exclusive interview” to ‘Star News’. “It feels good I
thought I have played enough cricket and it is time to
join the Bombay film industry. I have got this good offer
to act with Aishwarya Rai in a movie. She is a great
actress. That’s the reason I am going to the
films,” Jadeja said. |
Srinath to quit one-day cricket BANGALORE, April 2 (UNI) — Indian ace speedster Javgal Srinath has decided to retire from limited over cricket but will continue to represent the country in Test cricket. The 30-year-old Karnataka paceman is likely to make the announcement in the middle of this month. “I had desired to make a formal announcement to this effect in the middle of April. I had disclosed my intention of retiring from one-day cricket to Kapil Dev during the Sharjah tournament,’’ Srinath has told a newspaper here. Yesterday Indian coach
Kapil Dev announced that Srinath had expressed his desire
to retire from one-day cricket. “But I did not
expect him (Kapil Dev) to inform the media about
it’’, Srinath added. |
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KANPUR, April 2 (UNI) — An unbeaten 177 by Test player V.V.S. Laxman and a sparkling 93 runs by opener Nandkishore enabled Hyderabad to put up a victory target of 311 against Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match here today. Hyderabad (1st innings) 291. Uttar Pradesh (1st innings) 362. Hyderabad (2nd innings) Nand Kishore lbw Pandey 93, Daniel Manohar c Raza b Mishra 14, VVS Laxman not out 177, Vanka Pratap lbw b Zaidi 10, D. Vinay Kumar c Yadav b Salabh 48, P.S. Satwalkar c Saurabh b Pandey 8, N.P. Singh not out 2. Extras: (lb-8, b-17, w-4) 29. Total: (for 5 wkts) 381. Fall of wickets: 1/29, 2/209, 3/240, 4/349, 5/373. Bowling: Zaidi 27-10-50-1, Salabh Srivastava 22-4-92-1, Ratnesh Mishra 11-1-53-1, Gyanendra Pandey 15-3-62-2, Musi Raza 13-0-56-0, Mohd Kaif 5-0-19-0, Rizwan Shamshad 5-0-24-0. Uttar Pradesh (2nd innings). Mohd Saif batting 16, Jyoti Yadav batting 18. Extras: (nb-4) 4. Total: (for no loss) 38. Bowling: N.P. Singh
4-1-6-0, Satwalkar 6-2-12-0, Kawaljeet Singh 7-2-14-0, V.
Raju 4-3-6-0. |
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