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| Tuesday, May 16, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Sarwan (75) boosts Test chances 5-wicket haul by
Kumble |
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Selection panel meeting advanced Three Indians for European circuit
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NEW DELHI, May 15 (UNI) — Four days ahead of the working committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), sparks flew today with some senior board officials and members trying to turn the heat on its former President I.S. Bindra for his criticism of the functioning of the body. BCCI Vice-President Kamal Morarka and joint secretary Jyoti Bajpai turned up at a press conference along with members of some of the constituents of the board and termed Mr Bindra’s allegations as “borne out of frustration due to his dwindling support base’’ in the BCCI. “The heat unleashed by Mr Bindra is more in the media and the ministry than in the BCCI,’’ Mr Morarka said. He charged Mr Bindra, who is also the President of Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), with trying to browbeat the constituents and alleged that during the 1997 annual general body meeting in Chennai, he (Mr Bindra) used his official powers to “manipulate’’ the elections in favour of his nominee against Raj Singh Dungarpur. Mr Morarka said, “I have never seen such naked display of political, bureaucratic and money power ....’’ “Fax facilities of the Punjab Urban Development Authority were used to send messages to a television company abroad,’’ he alleged while refusing the divulge the contents. “No zone can ever claim to dominate the board which is run in a democratic way wherein majority opinion is respected ,’’ he said. BCCI joint secretary Jyoti Bajpai went a step further and said that during the annual general body meeting in Jaipur last year “some people were offered money’’. He also, however, shied away from elaboration. Since the match-fixing controversy unfolded last month, Mr Bindra has alleged “wrongdoing’’ by certain officials in the running of the board. At a press conference, he had even accused ICC President and former board secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya of being “in the grip of sharks and mafias’’. Reacting to Mr Bindra’s characterisation of tournaments in Sharjah and Toronto as “masala and thaila (money bag)” matches, Mr Morarka said he (Mr Bindra) had never brought forward any proposal to stop these matches during his presidentship of the board from 1993 to 1996. “In our board meetings, he has never talked about it... walking out of meetings does not solve any problem.’’ Calling Mr Bindra an “unguided missile’’, the BCCI Vice-President said: “Whatever he has talked about others, he himself is guilty of all that.’’ Jyoti Bajpai denied that in one of his reports as the manager of the Indian team (when Mr Bindra was the BCCI President), he had referred to some players for alleged wrongdoing. “Mr Bindra’s allegation that I had written about some players is completely wrong. No mention was made by me of any player.’’ |
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Bindra hands over papers to CBI NEW DELHI, May 15 — Former cricket board chief, I S Bindra today submitted 400-page document to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is inquiring into the issue of match-fixing and all its ramifications. By naming former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev as the person named by cricketer Manoj Prabhakar to “play below potential”, Mr Bindra had stunned the cricketing world. Official sources in the CBI said they had to peruse the records before stating whether Mr Bindra had given any conclusive proof of his allegations against Kapil Dev. When asked by newspersons what he had to say about the allegations against Kapil Dev, Mr Bindra said “no comments.” On Sunday, Mr Bindra had stated that he did not have any evidence in support of his allegations against Kapil Dev. He had stated that Manoj Prabhakar had come to Chandigarh recently and disclosed the name of Kapil Dev in front of a few other PCA officials. “We have two witnesses to what Manoj Prabhakar had said. One is M P Pandove, secretary of Punjab Cricket Association and an independent witness,” he said. CBI sources said Mr Bindra submitted the 400-page document to Joint Director, Mr R M Sawani and his team of officials of the special crime branch. He was with the investigating agency officials for an hour, sources said. However, they could not state whether he was questioned by the CBI officials. Official sources said the former BCCI chief had come on his own and was not summoned by the bureau to appear before it. Mr Bindra had stated that he had a talk with CBI officials last week on the match-fixing issue and the investigating agency had requested him to submit the documents at the earliest. |
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Dressing-room
fights over bookies’ money LONDON, May 15 (PTI) — Deliberate run-outs of team-mates, intentional bowling of wides, conceding byes and sending down easy-to-hit bouncers, slowing down run rate and bizarre adjustments to the batting order are some of the methods players used to “throw” matches, the British media quoting details of a judicial cricket match-fixing probe in Pakistan has said. “The observer” newspaper, in an exclusive report yesterday said it had obtained details of depositions to Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, the one-man inquiry commission report which is keenly awaited by the cricketing world and the world body, ICC. According to the report, there are tales of dressing-room fights prompted by arguments over bookies’ money, of players declining to provide names to authorities because they feared for the safety of their families, and of harassment of players who declined to get involved. The paper referred to depositions saying one senior figure, giving evidence in October 1998, had said there were only four Pakistan players “whom I consider absolutely clean”. The report did not name the person. It quoted another unnamed player as having deposed that “I can’t disclose the names of the main culprits”. According to the report, another player, now retired, told the inquiry commission that during 1994 tour of New Zealand by Pakistan, in the final one-day game he was told: “We have to lose the match” as a deal had been struck. “I was offered thousands of dollars. I told him (a teammate) I would think about it. There were also four or five other players and it was obvious they must also have been offered money”. The report said next morning the player was reprimanded when he took a catch and it was reiterated to him that “we have to lose this match”. He had decided not to be party to match-fixing, “The Observer” said quoting depositions. In that game, won by New Zealand by seven wickets, it is alleged intentional wides were bowled. Another leading Pakistan batsman had deposed, the report said, that in 1994 he went to the PCB and said “stern action should be taken against culprits even though other players might subsequently lose matches”. Among the allegations there are instances of in-form batsmen being asked to retire hurt, of a stand-in captain being chastised for conjuring up two quick wickets and of dressing-room fights on the tour to South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1994-95. |
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No time limit for
CBI probe NEW DELHI, May 15 (UNI) — The government today said it had not fixed any time limit for the CBI inquiry into match fixing, but the agency had been asked to complete it at the earliest. In reply to a question whether the government proposed to probe the lavish lifestyles of some Indian cricketers and whether the BCCI had been directed to probe the assets of the cricketers, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Chaoba Singh today told the Rajya Sabha that the CBI would look into all aspects of the issue. In reply to another question whether the government proposed to bring a suitable legislation to check it, the minister said, “further action in this regard would be taken, as appropriate, after the completion of the inquiry by
CBI”. |
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Sarwan (75) boosts Test chances BRIDGETOWN (Barbados), May 15 (Reuters) — West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan boosted his chances of selection for the second Test against Pakistan with a battling 75 for the ‘A’ team against the visitors. Sarwan, who faced 137 balls and hit 10 fours in his 180-minute innings yesterday, helped rescue West Indies ‘A’ from collapse on the third day of the four-day match. The 20-year-old Guyanese, who is in the squad for the series but was not picked for the drawn first Test, went to the crease with his team, 186 runs behind after the first innings, on 70 for four and in danger of an innings defeat. Backed by Courtney Browne, who scored 46, and Darren Ganga, he helped the West Indians to 362 for nine by the end of the day, a lead of 176. A combination of stubborn resistance from West Indies A and some lethargic play from Pakistan whose minds were clearly on the more serious business of the second Test which starts on Thursday, helped take the match into the final day. Sarwan was eventually out when he edged a ball to stand-in wicketkeeper Mohammad Wasti as he became one of three victims of Shabbir Ahmed. |
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LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) — Anil Kumble spun Leicestershire to victory against Somerset by claiming his first five-wicket return in the English country cricket
championship. The Indian leg-spinner yesterday took five for 61 as Somerset were dismissed for 246 to set the hosts up for a six-wicket win at Grace Road. In contrast, Australian leg spinner Shane Warne is not
enjoying the best of times in his first season in the championship. Warne collected his fourth duck of the season as his Hampshire side lost inside three days and by an innings and 100 to Yorkshire at Headingley. In doing so Hampshire were dismissed twice in a day, for 101 and then 198 with only will Kendall (78 not out) showing much resolve with the bat. There were also wins for Northamptonshire and Warwickshire in the second division. Northamptonshire defeated Nottinghamshire by an innings and 124 runs at Northampton when the visitors were dismissed for 128 in their second innings. Only John Morris (44) slowed down Northamptonshire’s progress as Darren Cousins (four for 41) and Michael Davies (three for 25) did most of the damage. At Hove, Warwickshire paceman Ed Giddins warmed up for England duty against Zimbabwe on Thursday by taking three wickets in his side’s win over Sussex by an innings and 47 runs. Spinners Ashley Giles and Neil Smith were also among the wickets, both claiming three. A captain’s innings from Matthew Maynard was not enough earn
Clamorgan victory over Gloucestershire at Cardiff. But it was a close run thing. Maynard posted an unbeaten 119 out of 300 for four declared before the visitors, needing 310 for victory, held out for a draw at 174 for nine. |
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SYDNEY, May 15 (AFP) — Ian Thorpe broke his 200 metre freestyle world record again in taking out the final at the Australian Olympic swimming trials with a time of one minute 45.51 seconds here tonight. Thorpe shaved 0.18 seconds off the record he broke in the semifinal the previous night of 1:45.69. It was the third world record the 17-year-old had established at the Olympic trials following his record in the 400m freestyle on Saturday’s opening night of the meet. “It brings everything back together when there’s an Olympic position at stake and that’s what I’m really working towards to have the opportunity to race in the races that I want to do at the Olympic Games,” Thorpe said. “So there was a lot of incentive out there tonight.” Thorpe received over 1,000 faxes of public support heading into tonight’s final. “It’s very uplifting when you’re feeling a little bit down and tired and knowing there’s that much support here in Australia.” It was Thorpe’s 10th world record in three years’ of competitive swimming. Thorpe will be joined in the 200 metre freestyle event at the Sydney Olympics in September by Michael Klim, who was runner-up tonight. |
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KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 (PTI) — A day after the setback, there were two big lessons to be learnt from India’s stunning 2-3 loss at the hands South Korea in the Asia Cup Hockey Tournament here last night. One that the Indians still need to work on their fitness and that poor finishing is still a rampant disease in Indian hockey, be it the senior level or the junior, and needs to be addressed without losing time. Looking set to win the title, the Indians missed chances galore including a penalty stroke to go down to the Koreans in a high-voltage clash at the Bukit Jalil Stadium last night. Though a second place finish could be considered a good result for the Junior World Cup runner-ups, the fact that problems have not been tackled is disappointing. Though the Indians scored 63 goals before the final, their managing only two from 11 shots at the goal in the summit clash negates all the earlier good performances. After a long time, an Indian team had got to winning ways but the old problem of faltering at crucial junctures got on to them again. When Arjun Halappa missed the stroke, the Indians, who were in superb attacking form till then, panicked a bit and that gave the Koreans the chance of taking the match. And they did that in style. They changed gears and within minutes had the equaliser. In the second half, they held themselves back and waited for the breaks. The Indians ran themselves out of steam looking for the lead. And when unable to get it, seemed confused. It proved one fact. The Koreans had studied their rivals and played a tactical game to capitalise on their lack of fitness, again emphasising that skills alone can’t win a match anymore. It’s how you play a particular opponent; the way you play the game that determines victories. The Korean manager Cho Sung Jun made a telling statement at the end of the final. “We studied Arjun Halappa’s strokes and also Len Aiyappa’s penalty corner conversions. And we knew what to do. (Goalkeeper) Lee stopped Halappa’s attempt by being faster than Arjun and so was the case with Len. That’s what made the difference. The Indians were up against a goalkeeper who had studied them much more than what they did to them. Of course, Indian coach C.R. Kumar said, Halappa’s stroke was not as fast as it should have been. But the reverse could also be true. Korean goalkeeper Lee at that moment was faster than Halappa. Further, the last 10 minutes of the match also showed the basic difference in fitness. Koreans ran their opponents ragged as the Indian defence was caught on the wrong foot. Korea’s second goal came when Lazarus Barla moved up with the ball but a Korean snatched the ball back and on pure pace beat the Indian skipper to send a cross that resulted in a goal. The third goal came in a similar manner. Korean coach Cho Shun Jun said: “I think it’s time that teams realise that skills alone cannot guarantee titles. Pakistan found that with their fifth position — a fall of four places. Apart from tactics, the victory also speaks of coaching policy of the Koreans — as per which the sub-juniors, juniors and seniors work in the same system. Cho Sung Jun said: “The system is the same. All coaches meet and follow one system. When a junior comes to the senior side, he doesn’t have to listen to a coach who is going in a different way”. India, definitely, cannot claim to have a system that is the same in all the three categories. Cho, however, had the last word on the tournament. |
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Jain salvages some pride for India KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 (PTI) — A fighting Sidharth Jain gave India some pride beating Malaysia’s Roslin Hashim in the final rubber as the visitors lost 1-4 to the hosts and went out of the reckoning in the Thomas Cup men’s team badminton championship here last night. Jain, a tenacious player who also scared the Danes in the first round on Friday, started impressively winning the first game 10-15. Hashim levelled the scores taking the second 15-5, but then retired with injury when Jain led 8-4 in the third. Earlier, national champion Pulella Gopichand took a game off world No 4 Wong Choon Hann before losing 14-17, 17-14, 1-15. Besides Gopichand, the doubles pair of Markose Bristow and Jaseel P. Ismail and Nikhil Kanetkar also came up with a much improved display but could not prevent the superior hosts, locked in a do-or-die situation after being edged out 2-3 by strong Korea, managed a 4-1 win to keep alive their semifinal hopes at the Putra Stadium. Four-time national champion Gopichand, under pressure to prove his class after being thrashed 15-1 15-6 by world No 1 Peter Gade Christensen in India’s 0-5 defeat to Denmark, came up with a lion-hearted performance as he took the Malaysian, ranked 32 places above him in IBF rankings, to three games in an 80-minute battle. Gopichand, whose inspirational play helped India reach the finals after a gap of 12 years by finishing third in New Delhi zonals, came out firing and matched Wong Choong Hann shot for shot in the first game. The Indian took the world No 4 to extra points before losing 14-17. The talented shuttler then stunned the strong-home crowd by taking the second game 17-14. But the effort proved too much for Gopichand, who has not yet fully recovered from the typhoid he suffered after the February qualifiers and went down 1-15 in the decider. In the second match, the experienced pair of Markose Bristow and Vijaydeep Singh again silenced the Malaysian crowd by taking the first game off the highly rated Lee Wang Wah and Choong Tan Fook, 15-7. But the Malaysian pair took control of the proceedings from then on and won the next two games giving away only two and one point respectively to win 15-7, 15-2, 15-1 in 45 minutes. Kanetkar was also a different player from the one that lost to world No 3 Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen. The 56th ranked Indian lost the first game to Yong Hock Kin, ranked 27 placed ahead of him, 9-15. The Bangalore-based shuttler could have forced the match into the third game but failed to capitalise on his chances as Kin, who replaced Ong Ewe Hock after the Malaysian No 2 suffered cramps in the deciding game against Lee Hyun Il of Korea, clinched the issue 15-9, 17-14 in 45 minutes. That signalled the end of the Indian fight as they lost the second doubles tie without much fight. George Thomas and Jaseel P. Ismail, playing together for India for the first time because of the pull out by Vincent Lobo, went down tamely 6-15, 3-15 to Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock. India lost but they still rose to the occasion to win the hearts of the Malaysians fans with the gutsy display. Malaysia, the 1992 champions and losing finalist in 1994 and 1998, now face a daunting task in their next match against Denmark if they hope to make the semifinals. Only a clear 5-0 win would have put Malaysia in a safe position before the all important match against Denmark on Tuesday. But the win for Malaysia at least kept their semifinals hopes alive. However, Indian team leader Dilip Ghosh was happy with the performance of his team. “It was a great show. I cannot ask for more and the point was a big bonus for us. It does not matter how the point came as long we go back home knowing we gave our best in all our matches.” “We were over confident and we did not expect the Indian pair to attack us like that. However, we managed to bounce back in the remaining games,” said an almost dejected Wan Wah about the first doubles match against Indian pair of Markose Bristow and Vijaydeep Singh. Malaysia’s team manager Datuk Mohamed Al-Amin Abdul Majid expressed relief with the results despite the under-par performance of his players. “Our players were still under pressure, especially Choong Hann who could not produce his best form in the tournament so far. But we will call them and have a meeting to get them back on track,” he said. In another tie South Korea edged out European champions Denmark 3-2 to become the first team in group A to reach the semifinals. Korea’s winning point came from the deciding third singles where 78th ranked Park Tae Sang outclassed world No 9 Kenneth Jonassen 15-7, 15-7. Lee Hyun Li had earlier upset Denmark’s 35-year-old Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen 13-15, 15-12, 15-12 to help Korea take a 2-1 lead. The defeat of Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer was the shock of the day as it completely derailed the hopes of the European champions to make the semifinals. Denmark, the 1996 finalist, had put much hopes on Hoyer-Larsen to deliver the all-important point which would have put them in the semifinals. Instead he proved that he was just no match for the unheralded Korean Lee Hyun-Li, ranked only 43rd in the world rankings. Although Danish doubles duo Jesper Larsen and Jens Eriksen beat Lee Dong-Soo and Yoo Yung-Sung 15-10, 15-1 in the fourth rubber, Hoyer’s surprise loss proved crucial. And when Park Tae-Sung held his nerve in the decisive fifth rubber to beat Kenneth Jonassen 15-7, 15-7, Denmark’s dreams of becoming the first European side to win the Thomas Cup was practically in tatters. |
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Magnus Norman overcomes Kuerten for title ROME, May 15 (AFP) — Magnus Norman overcame stubborn resistance at the end to defeat holder Gustavo Kuerten 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-4 for the title at the $2.95 million Masters Series Rome yesterday and consolidate his position atop the season rankings. Third seed Norman became the first Swede since Mats Wilander in 1987 to claim the title at the Foro Italico. He also prevented the Brazilian fourth seed from becoming the fourth man to win back-to-back titles on the roman clay. “It’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said moments after victory in more than three hours. Kuerten put up a fight, saving four match points late in the fourth set before the Swede came through. Norman on Saturday replaced Andre Agassi as leader in the constantly changing champions race and now has 321 points to the 267 of the American. The quiet Swede earned the ninth title of his career and his first since Auckland in January. He stands 3-2 over Kuerten, who had won the pair’s last two meetings. Norman broke to start the fourth set but Kuerten provided the dramatics near the end. The Brazilian saved four match points in the ninth game to the delight of the capacity crowd. With the cheering all for the Brazilian, Norman’s Swedish calm served him well. He recovered from love-30 and saved a break point as “Guga” disappointedly scooped a return wide. The Swede moved into position with his fifth victory chance and secured the triumph — and $ 400,000 in prize money — when Kuerten put a return over the baseline. Kuerten, the 1997 French Open champion, was beaten for the second time this spring in a Masters final, six weeks after losing to Pete Sampras in the title match at Miami. Norman moved off to a brisk start with a pair of breaks for 4-0 on the way to a domineering 5-0 scoreline. At that point, Kuerten began to wake up, finally winning a game for 1-5 to get on the scoreboard. Norman suffered a brief setback in the seventh game when his serve was broken by the Brazilian. But the Swede won the first set in the battle of 23-year-olds in the ninth game on his third winning chance after Kuerten saved a pair of set points in the eighth game, the first with an ace. Norman struck 17 winners in the opening set and produced only five unforced errors. By contrast, Kuerten had 14 mistakes. The match settled in the second as serve prevailed, with Norman saving a pair of Kuerten set points in the tenth game, but
finally dropping serve on a mis-hit forehand to level the contest on clay. Both men’s serving prowess fell off in the third set. As the contest moved towards the two-hour mark, it stood 2-2 after neither had managed to hold. Kuerten broke that trend for 3-2, but Norman produced the break that he needed in the seventh game to nudge ahead. An ace on second set point was all the Swede needed for a two-sets-to-one lead. Martinez triumphs BERLIN: Conchita Martinez overcame South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer 6-1 6-2 yesterday to regain the German Open title she won in 1998 - just hours after she withdrew from Italian Open with an injury. The third seeded Spaniard cited a right
Achilles tendon strain for her pull-out from Rome. It occurred during her semifinal win over Martina Hingis, and was aggravated in her doubles semifinal played later that day. The 28-year-old Spaniard decided it was not painful enough to prevent her playing the final in Berlin, but that it was too tender to risk further damage with the French Open looming in two weeks time. Her victory over 10th seeded Coetzer, also aged 28, not only earned
Martinez $ 166,000, but means she will soar from eight to three in the new world rankings. It is her highest ranking since November 1996 and comes after she reached the Australian Open semifinals and finished as runner-up on the Gold Coast and in Amelia Island earlier this year. Coetzer gave Martinez all the encouragement she needed in the first set, despite breaking the Spaniard to lead 1-0. Martinez then claimed the next six games and the set as the South African not only lacked a weapon to hurt Martinez, but also her usual persistence. She won just three points on her own serve, made a succession of volleying errors, and at one stage a serve even failed to reach the net as she double-faulted. By contrast, Martinez was patient in the rallies, mixing high looping balls with a powerful forehand while waiting for the opportunity to work her way into the net and put away a volley. Coetzer briefly threatened to offer greater resistance in the second set, hitting the ball more positively and making several winning volleys. But once Martinez broke to lead 3-2 and held serve comfortably Coetzer was unable to respond. |
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Selection panel meeting advanced
MUMBAI, May 15 (PTI) — The selection committee meeting to finalise the 14-member team for the forthcoming Asia Cup tournament has been advanced by a day and will be held on May 22 at
Pune, the cricket board announced here today. The change has been made as skipper Sourav Ganguly has advanced his date of arrival from England, where he is playing county cricket for Lancashire, by a day, according to board executive secretary Sharad
Diwadkar. The selectors will prune down the 25-strong probables list to the required number for the May 28-June 7 tournament in Dhaka. The
probables, barring Ganguly and two others now playing English county cricket — Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble — are undergoing a conditioning camp from today at the Poona Club with coach Kapil Dev overseeing it. The camp is set to conclude on May 24.
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Three Indians for
European circuit
NEW DELHI, May 15 (UNI) — Three Indians — Kartan Rastogi
(Mumbai), Tushar Liberhan (Chandigarh) and Ms Sania Mirza (Hyderabad) — have been selected by the Asian Tennis Federation
(ATF) to be the members of the ITF/ATF international junior team to play in the European circuit from July 5 to August 13. The team, to be financed by the ITF’s Grand Slam Development Fund, will be coached by Patricia Budiono (Indonesia) and Nandan Bal (India). |
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