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| Sunday, May 28, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Williams records statement Chanderpaul, Adams lead Windies reply Gebrselassie’s no to Olympic
double Sampras to meet Philippoussis in first
round |
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National fencing at Nasik 3 new SAI centres in Punjab
Ludhiana win handball
title
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Weather holds key to opener DHAKA, May 27 (PTI) — With torrential downpour raising serious doubts whether the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh opening game in the Asia Cup cricket tournament will be held, organisers were looking for a truncated affair or to play on May 29-originally a rest day.Bangladesh Cricket Board President Saber Hossain Chowdhury said holders Sri Lanka have agreed to the proposal to hold the match on Monday while ruling out any chance of the tournament being shifted to a venue like Sharjah if rain throws a wet blanket over the event. “If we are not able to hold the match at all tomorrow, it was decided to have it the day after tomorrow which is a rest day,” he told a press conference here. Soggy conditions at the Bangabandhu stadium and steady downpour has virtually ruled out prospects of a full game tomorrow. But ground staff were furiously at work to ensure at least a 25-overs-a-side game was played. India begin their campaign on May 30, when they take on Bangladesh. After winning the inaugural Asia Cup cricket title in 1984 at Sharjah, India did not take part in the second edition of the tournament held at Colombo in 1986, when the title was won by the hosts. In 1997, India were the runner-up as they lost to Sri Lanka at their homeland. However, after lifting the World Cup in 1983, India had bagged the Asia Cup thrice consecutively at Dhaka in 1988, in India during 1990-91, and at Sharjah in 1995. In contrast to India’s performance, arch-rivals Pakistan have a very poor record as they are yet to win the coveted cup. Pakistan, too, have participated five times of the total six editions, but besides being runners-up in 1986, they have not made much of an impact in the tournament. Sri Lanka, which had taken part in all the editions of Asia Cup, won the title twice in 1986 and 1997, both at their homeland. However, the islanders lifted the runners-up trophy the rest of the times. Hosts Bangladesh’s record in this tournament is also not satisfactory like that of Pakistan. They have participated every time, but are yet to make their presence felt. If one goes by the overall performance, then Sri Lanka wields the top spot. In all, Sri Lanka had so far registered 14 victories and six defeats. Sri Lanka are followed by India and Pakistan. While India did not take part in 1986, Pakistan missed the 1990-91 edition held in India. Of the 17 matches India played so far, they have won eleven and lost five. Pakistan, which had played 14 matches, won six and lost seven. Bangladesh, which had played 13 matches, lost all of them. Sri Lanka have the distinction of scoring the maximum runs in a match in this meet. They scored 319 for five against Bangladesh at Colombo in 1997. Former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga also attained the feat of the highest scorer of this tournament so far as he hit 131 (unbeaten) against India at Colombo in the same year. India too have set a record in this tournament by winning a match with the highest number of wickets in hand — ten wickets against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 1984. Pakistan have the lone distinction of winning a match with maximum run difference. Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 173 runs at Dhaka in 1988. Indian side will be weighed in by allegations against Kapil Dev and the skipper along with batsman Rahul Dravid and leg-spinner Anil Kumble, coming in from their English county campaign, will hope the change in conditions do not affect their performances. The scheduling of the tournament during the south-west monsoon has come in for some criticism and groundsmen at the venue have had no respite as showers continue to undo their efforts and raised a big question mark over the game between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The Indians and Sri Lankans have been inactive for a while and Pakistan will be a tired lot as they reach here from the arduous tour of the West Indies after the third and final Test that is scheduled to end on May 29 in St Johns, Antigua. Bangladesh Cricket Board Secretary Ashraf-ul-Haq wore a resigned look saying they were helpless about the dates made available to them. The Sri Lankans could not have nets owing to wet conditions while the Indians, expected to reach here tomorrow for their May 30 opening tie against the hosts, also will be worried over prospect of more rain. Kapil Dev had favoured
India pulling out of international commitments till the
air was cleared of corruption charges, but the cricket
board said the team will indeed play here. |
Williams records statement DURBAN, May 27 (PTI) — South African fast bowler and one of the four cricketers named by Delhi police, Henry Williams has recorded his statement with the commission of inquiry and it will now be for the prosecution to “decide whether to put him in the dock or not”. He made his statement to the commission prosecutor Sharmilla Bathoi. Williams, spin bowler Nicky Boje, opening batsmen Herchelle Gibbs and former skipper Hansie Cronje have been named by Delhi police as being involved in match fixing. While Williams, Gibbs and Boje have denied the charges, Cronje has admitted that he had accepted $ 10,000 to $ 15,000 from a London-based Indian bookie. “Henry has given his statement and now, as I understand it, the prosecution advocate will decide whether it is worth putting him in the dock or not”, said former cricketer and Boland cricket chairman Andre Bruyns who accompanied Williams. Boje and Gibbs said they would make their statements through their lawyers next week. Former wicket-keeper Dave Richardson, representative of all the players, said in an interview that they had appointed lawyer and an advocate to represent them at the hearings. “They will represent the players in their personal capacities,” said Richardson. The commission appointed by South African government is headed by retired judge Edwin King and will begin its official public hearnings from June 7. The South African public waiting for the commission to start its public hearings on June 7, have written to newspapers and telephoned talk shows to say they would like the truth to be made public. Many people have called for leniency to be shown to Cronje and for him to be pardoned. “Everybody makes a
mistake,” has been the common theme among those who
want Cronje to be pardoned. They have pointed out that
Cronje has made a mistake and he should not be punished
for ever by taking away his livelihood. |
Chanderpaul, Adams lead Windies reply ST JOHN’S (Antigua), May 27 (AP) — The West Indies captain Jimmy Adams and fellow left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul both hit unbeaten half centuries to lift their team to a strong position over Pakistan at the close of the second day of the teams’ third and final cricket Test here. The three-Test Cable & Wireless series is level at 0-0 following draws in the first two matches in Guyana and Barbados. Adams was unbeaten on 60 and Chanderpaul on 68 as the home team closed on 214 for three yesterday in reply to the tourists’ first inning total of 269. They came together with the innings at crossroads at 84 for three a half-hour after lunch. The pair remained solid until the close, adding an unbroken 130 for the fourth wicket in 222 minutes. Both Adams and Chanderpaul emerged from shaky starts against a testing attack to play with some enterprise toward the end of a day extended because of two slight delays for rain. The 25-year-old Chanderpaul brought up his 50 off his 132nd delivery. He counted three fours in reaching his milestone, adding three more before the close. Adams, in his first season as West Indies captain, followed Chanderpaul to his half-century after resumption. The 30-year-old Jamaican struck four fours in just under three hours, facing 131 balls. Pakistan, spurred by two wickets from leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, had caused early trouble for the West Indies. Sherwin Campbell’s dangerous innings of 31 was ended by Ahmed’s fifth ball, his pull picking out Yousuf Youhana at midwicket. The West Indies vice-captain hit six fours off 44 balls. SCOREBOARD Pakistan (1st innings) (overnight 267-8): Wasim c and b Rose 13 Extras (nb-20 lb-4) 24 Total (all out) 269 Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-27, 3-33, 4-130, 5-132, 6-173, 7-209, 8-247, 9-268. Bowling: Ambrose 14-4-30-2, Walsh 26-2-83-5, Rose 19-4-48-2, King 16-3-48-1, Adams 14-2-40-0, Chanderpaul 2-0-16-0. (West Indies 1st innings): Campbell c Youhana b
Mushtaq 31 Extras (nb-4, lb-3) 7 Total (for three wickets) 214 Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-73, 3-84. Bowling: Akram 15-3-42-0, Waqar 13.2-4-27-0, Mushtaq 24-3-68-2, Saqlain 21-4-44-0 Razzaq 10-1-30-0.
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Gebrselassie’s no to Olympic double LONDON, May 27 (AFP) — Haile Gebrselassie, one of the world’s greatest-ever distance runners, has revealed he will not attempt to double up at this year’s Olympic Games but instead settle for defending his 10,000m title. The modest 27-year-old Ethiopian believes it is his duty to try to share the Olympic spoils with his fellow countrymen by allowing them the opportunity to dominate the 5,000m event in Sydney. “I will run over 10,000m - that is definite. We have some very good, qualified young Ethiopian runners who are already strong enough for the 5000 metres. I have to give them a chance,” he said. “You never know one day I will stop running and they need to compete at the Olympics. If they can win this year it would be fantastic. If not it will still be a good experience for the next one,” he added. There had been
speculation with the 10,000m final being held on the
fourth day of the Olympic programme with a further four
days elapsing until the 5,000m final that he might bid to
score the first-ever double since another Ethiopian,
Miruts Yifter, did it in 1980 at Moscow. |
Sampras to meet Philippoussis in first round PARIS, May 26 (AFP) — Pete Sampras, desperate to complete his Grand Slam collection by winning the French Open tennis title in his 11th attempt, yesterday got a draw he would rather have avoided as he was paired with Australian Davis Cup star Mark Philippoussis in the first round. The stakes are high for the 28-year-old Sampras as, should he lift the trophy, he would claim a new record with 13 Grand Slam triumphs — beating the mark he holds jointly with Roy Emerson. In the women’s singles, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport, the top-ranked players in the world, will battle for the right to succeed the now retired Steffi Graf as queen of Roland Garros. Both Hingis and Davenport start off against Belgian opponents on the slow red clay, taking on Sabine Appelmans and Dominique Van Roost, respectively. Hingis, who has won all three Grand Slam events except French Open in her career, was drawn in the same half of the draw as three-time champion Monica Seles of the USA. Hingis and third-seeded Seles would meet in the semifinals providing they avoid upsets. Defending men’s champion Andre Agassi had better luck than Sampras at the official draw, conducted by former skiing star Jean-Claude Killy, as his name came out alongside that of French wildcard Anthony Dupuis. Agassi, who skipped Hamburg last week after a poor showing in Rome, could face Australian youngster Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals if the draw holds up. Hewitt, the ninth seed, was drawn against Jeff Tarango of the USA in his opener. Philippoussis, nicknamed ‘Scud’ for his fearsome serve, will be seeking revenge over Sampras, against whom he was forced to retire in the Wimbledon quarterfinal last year having won the opening set. Sampras, the second seed but a consistent under-achiever on clay, has German eighth seed Nicolas Kiefer as the highest-ranked rival in his section of the draw and that pair could meet in the last eight — if Sampras can get that far. He has lost in the second round in each of the past two years. Agassi is, meanwhile, set to meet Moroccan 15th seed Younes El Anyaoui in the round of last 16 before a potential clash with Hewitt. Sweden’s Magnus Norman, the current leader of the ATP 2000 Champions Race and seeded third here, will play a qualifier in the opening round while last year’s beaten finalist Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine will start his campaign against Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden. Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, seeded five and winner of the Hamburg Masters Series event last week to complete his clay collection, begins with a match against Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden. Kuerten, champion here in 1997 and looking to be the man to beat on slow red clay this summer, is in line for a last-eight meeting with Russian fourth-seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who won the 1996 French Open title. Kafelnikov’s in-form compatriot, 20-year-old Marat Safin, the runner-up in Hamburg and winner of tournaments in Barcelona and Mallorca in recent weeks, takes on George Bastl of Switzerland. Other juicy first-round matches see Chilean claycourt specialist Marcelo Rios up against German Davis Cup star Tommy Haas while Australian double US Open champion Pat Rafter could meet French sixth seed Cedric Pioline if he can first defeat clay court specialist Gianluca Pozzi of Italy. Among the women, Hingis has extra motivation to win this year after breaking down in tears and throwing tantrums as she lost to Graf in the 1999 final. The Swiss 19-year-old, who missed the Italian Open with a foot injury, looks to have a relatively simple start to the tournament and would face a qualifier in second round if she beats 25th-ranked Appelmans. Her first seeded opponent would be France’s 12th-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis in pre-quarters. Seles, who won the Italian Open title in Rome earlier this month, opens her campaign against Silvija Talaja of Croatia. With all of her main rivals injured in one way or another, Seles will be aiming to win her first French title since 1992 and finally consign to the history books the day in Hamburg on April 30, 1993, when she was stabbed in the back by a deranged fan. She has only won one Grand Slam — the Australian Open in 1996 — since that assault. Australian Open champion Davenport is in the same half of the 132-player draw as American rival Venus Williams, the fourth seed. Davenport skipped this week’s Madrid tournament with a back injury but is confident she will be back on full form ahead of the start of the open. If the draw holds up, her first seeded opponent would be ninth-seeded South African Amanda Coetzer. Williams’ younger sister Serena, the US Open champion, withdrew before today’s draw was made, citing a knee injury that has kept her on the sidelines for the past six weeks. Russian teenage star Anna Kournikova, seeded 15 but a doubtful starter with an ankle sprain, took her place in the draw and plays Canadian Vanessa Webb in her first-round match. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, a three-time winner here and the ninth seed this year, opens against Pavlina Nola of Bulgaria. In 13 appearances at
Roland Garros, only once — way back in 1990 —
has Sanchez-Vicario failed to make the last eight. |
National fencing at Nasik CHANDIGARH, May 27 — The Fencing Association of India will hold 11th Senior National Fencing Championship at Nasik from June 9 to 12. The competitions will be conducted in foil, epee and sabre events in men section while in the women’s foil and epee events will be held, according to Mr Arvind Khanna, President of the FAI. The second Sub-Junior National Fencing Championship will be held at Calcutta from August 19 to 22 and the Junior National Fencing Championship will be organised by the Tamil Nadu Fencing Association in January next year. The association plans to hire the services of a foreign coach for the diploma course in fencing, scheduled to start from July this session at Patiala.
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3 new SAI centres in Punjab CHANDIGARH, May 27 — The Sports Authority of India will introduce three new centres at Badal, Mastuana Sahib (Sangrur) and Anandpur Sahib, according to a press release. The first centre at Badal (Muktsar) will be for girls. At Dashmesh Girls College, Badal and Dashmesh Girls Senior Secondary School, Badal the sports disciplines earmarked include athletics, basketball, volleyball, hockey and shooting. The trials for this centre will be held on June 19. Mastuana Sahib will have facilities for boys in athletics, boxing and volleyball. The trials for this centre will be held on June 29 and 30. The Dashmesh Academy for
Martial Arts at Anandpur Sahib will have centre for
wrestling, boxing, judo, taekwondo and fencing
disceptions for both boys and girls under the special
area games scheme of SAI. The trials will be conducted on
July 3 and 4. |
Ageless Matthaus bids adieu MUNICH, May 27 (AFP) — Ageless German libero Lothar Matthaus officially left the international football stage last evening with a testimonial match in which his World Team drew 1-1 with the German national team. In fact Matthaus will feature in his country’s Euro 2000 campaign — he has already played in a record-equalling five World Cup campaigns — but last night’s extravaganza at the Olympic Stadium gave the veteran a ceremonial send-off before he joins battle for the last time in Holland and Belgium. Matthaus may have been top of the bill. But as English Diva Sarah Brightman sang her trademark song “Time to Say Goodbye” and Matthaus ran a final lap of honour it was another international star who stole the show — Diego Maradona. Argentina’s former captain and fallen hero emerged from his drug rehabilitation clinic in Cuba to play one half of the game to the constant cheers of the Munich crowd. Matthaus claimed Maradona had lost close to 20 kg in weight for the game but still looked rotund and cumbersome as he leisurely trundled around the midfield waiting for — and occasionally giving — passes. “I contacted him three or four weeks ago because I knew the problems he was going through. I thought he might like to just come over and do the kick-off but straight away he said he wanted to play, to bid farewell to an old friend,” Matthaus said. “I think it’s important for him to have shown here that he wants to go down the right path. I tried to help him and I will continue to help him. But he too has to do his bit, to show that he deserves to live the life that he earned as a footballer,” Matthaus said. The pair were rivals in the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals with one victory apiece for Germany and Argentina and developed into friends. Matthaus began the testimonial in the German national colours but switched to his own side after the break, joining his old Bayern Munich rival Jurgen Klinsmann. Former Bayern team-mate Carsten Jancker opened the scoring for the World Team in the 10th minute but Thomas Hassler, back in the German team after a two year absence, cracked home the equaliser from 20 meters 16 minutes later. “Dear friends,” a tearful Matthaus said at the end as he addressed the crowd from the pitch with a microphone. “It’s difficult for me to say goodbye but I want to thank you all -for the great time I had, for the great games, for the wonderful atmosphere in this stadium. I just want to say it was fantastic and I will always remember it.” “He has won everything there is to win,” football legend, former coach and friend Franz Beckenbauer said proudly. “There are too many awards to count them all. I would even go so far as to say he is one of the best footballers this century.”. Despite his 39 years
Matthaus is not yet lost to the game. He will still play
for Germany at Euro 2000 where he will form a central
role in defence. |
Zimbabwe collapse against Yorkshire LEEDS, May 27 (AFP) — Gavin Hamilton and Matthew Hoggard plunged the Zimbabwe tourists deeper into crisis on the third day of the four-day game at Headingley here yesterday. The Yorkshire pair took eight wickets between them as Andy Flower’s men were skittled for 68, the third lowest total they have ever made on a tour. Hamilton finished with five for 22 and Hoggard, talked of as a future England bowler, took three for 18. Scotland-born Hamilton did not score a run, take a wicket or claim a catch in his solitary Test appearance against South Africa last winter but found the Zimbabwean batting much more to his liking. It left the Zimbabweans facing defeat even though they had claimed a first innings lead of 111 and the game might well have been over in three days but for the intervention of the weather shortly after lunch. Yorkshire added five runs in the morning before being dismissed for 124, left-armer Bryan Strang taking the last wicket when he had Hoggard caught behind the wicket for one. Debutant Simon Guy was left unbeaten on 29 and Pommie Mbangwa finished with six for 14 from 18 overs. But this fine effort in the field was soon ruined by weak batting, fully exploited by Hamilton and Hoggard. The innings developed into a procession from the moment Grant Flower was bowled by Hoggard in the third over of the innings. The tourists lost half their side with only 42 runs on the board as Hamilton supported Hoggard’s opening burst with excellent seam bowling, going on to claim five for 22 in only 7.3 overs. Former captain Alistair Campbell was out first ball for the second time in the game, caught by Guy off Hamilton, and the main resistance again came from Guy Whittall, who had made 89 in the first innings. He hung around for 76
minutes in making 15 before being bowled offering no
stroke to a delivery from Hamilton. Andy Flower also made
15 and Strang hit one or two lusty blows in his 14 before
the end came. Yorkshire now require 180 for
victory. |
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