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| Thursday, June 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Pakistan lift Asia Cup PARIS, June 7 — Franco Squillari today became the first Argentinian in 18 years to reach the semifinals of the 10.25-million French Open when he defeated Spain’s Albert Costa, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Paes out of action Hewitt flays
French Open organisers Match-fixing
probe begins CBI to re-examine Wadekar, Sidhu
No American left
in French Open French Open: familiar faces in women’s semis |
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Hisar wrestlers win
freestyle title Pressure mounts on Flintoff Mankad, Kirtane in last eight
CHA mourns death of SN Vohra
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Pakistan lift Asia Cup DHAKA, June 7 (PTI) — Marvan Atapattu’s fighting century was just not enough as Pakistan rode on pulverising unbeaten fifties by Moin Khan and Inzamam-ul Haq to claim their maiden Asia Cup title, dethroning Sri Lanka with a 39-run victory in the final here tonight. Atapattu — coming in with his team struggling at 46 for thee after early loss of promotees Romesh Kaluwitharana (0) and Chaminda Vaas (10) — and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, kept the defending champions in the hunt till the 40th over before the Lankans ran out of steam at the Bangabandhu Stadium. Pakistani bowlers came up with a
disciplined performance and struck at regular intervals, bundling out Sri Lanka for 238 with 4.4 overs to spare after brilliant efforts by Moin (56) and Inzamam-ul (72), who raised 72 runs from last five overs, helped them post an imposing 277 for 4 in 50 overs on opting to bat after an hour-long delay due to overnight rain. The match virtually slipped out of the Sri Lankan’s hands after they undid the tight bowling by their spinners with sloppy
fielding — dropping as many as six catches — and ordinary efforts by medium-pacers Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa that helped Pakistan raise 104 runs in the death overs. But till Atapattu was there, the Sri Lankans had some chances of making a match of it. The elegant right-hander waged a lone battle for the dethroned champions, hitting a brilliant 100 under pressure but regular fall of wickets and the mounting runrate proved too much even for the in-form batsman. Pakistan: Anwar c Muralitharan b Jayasuriya 82 Nazir c and b Zoysa 3 Afridi c Arnold b Zoysa 22 Youhana c and b Chandana 25 Inzamam not out 72 Moin Khan not out 56 Extras: 17 (b-3, lb-7, w-2, nb-5) Total: 277 for 4 wickets in 50 overs Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-56, 3-124, 4-173. Bowling: Chaminda Vass 8-0-52-0, Nuwan Zoysa 8-1-44-2, Kaushalya Weeraratna 6-0-23-0, Muttia Muralitharan 10-0-42-0, Upul Chandana 10-0-43-1, Sanath Jayasuriya 8-0-63-1. Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya c and b M. Akram 22 Kaluwitherana run out 0 C. Vaas b M. Akram 10 Atapattu c Moin b Wasim Akram 100 A de Silva c Youhana b
Arshad 20 Arnold c Afridi b Arshad 41 Jayawardene run out 0 Chandana b Wasim Akram 24 Zoysa not out 6 Muralitharan c sub Weereratne absent Extras (lb8, w5, nb2) 15 Total (all out in 45.2) 238 Fall of wickets: 1/6, 2/21, 3/46, 4/117, 5/196, 6/202, 7/220, 8/237, 9/238. Bowling: Wasim Akram 8-0-38-2, Mohd Akram 8-0-50-2, Abdur Razzak 7.2-0-40-1, Azhar Mahmood 10-0-40-0, Arshad Khan 10-0-42-2, Shahid Afridi 2-0-20-0.
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Squillari enters last four PARIS, June 7 (DPA) — Franco Squillari today became the first Argentinian in 18 years to reach the semifinals of the 10.25-million French Open when he defeated Spain’s Albert Costa, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Third-seeded Swede Magnus Norman beat 12th-seeded Russian Marat Safin 6-4 6-3 4-6 7-5 to advance to the men’s singles semi-finals. Squillari, ranked 27th in the ATP points race, reached his first Grand Slam final four after 3 hours 4 minutes of baseline play on the sun-flooded centre court. The lefthander grabbed a quick two-set lead before Costa halved the deficit by reeling off the last four games in the third. The players traded breaks in the first two games of the fourth and then each wasted two break points, Costa in the seventh game and Squillari in the eighth. Squillari finally broke through for 5-4 when Costa netted a drop shot and wrapped up his first victory over the 26th-placed Costa in the next game on his second match point with a forehand winner. “I am tired but happy to be in the semifinals. I played at a high level and felt very confident,’’ said Squillari, 23. The last Argentinians in the Roland Garros semis were Guillermo Vilas and Jose-Luis Clerc in 1982. Vilas is the only player from the south American country to win the trophy, back in 1977. Squillari has now won five matches at Roland Garros, just one less than the six matches he won in all previous 10 showings at the majors since 1996. He has two career titles, Munich 1999 and
2000.
Pierce eyes title PARIS, June 7 (DPA) — Mary Pierce has her eyes on the French Open trophy and there is nothing that can distract her in the bid to become the first French woman in 33 years to win the Roland Garros Grand Slam. ‘‘In February I had laser surgery on my eyes, so I don’t wear contact lenses or glasses anymore. It’s great,’’ she said. Pierce has shown great vision so far which culminated in the quarterfinals with Monica Seles when she leaped high into the air to play a ball between her legs which fell in, past a stunned
Seles. |
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Paes out of action NEW DELHI, June 7 (UNI) — Indian tennis ace Leander Paes will be out of action for about three months due to a wrist injury he suffered while playing the mixed doubles event at the French Open. Leander told Sports Time, a Doordarshan programme, that his wrist was injured when he tried to hit a forehand during the second set of his mixed doubles match, and ended up with his “wrist in an awkward position.’’ Leander, speaking on the telephone from Paris, said the only good news was that his tendon was not torn completely so it would not require any operation, but “it (the injury) was just one step short of that.’’ Leander, also said the cast on his wrist would be on for about four to six weeks and it would take six more weeks after that to recover. He said the timing of the injury made it even worse as it had come in the middle of the season and so he would not be able to play the rest of the French Open, Wimbledon and Davis Cup. Leander is also unsure about his participation in the doubles event at the Sydney Olympics, “The Olympics is still a while away, and I will do everything I can possibly do to make it to Sydney.’’ About his erstwhile partner Mahesh Bhupathi’s reported comments about the possibility of re-uniting with Leander soon, the India number one said “this injury means that I will be out of the circuit for some time and I will have time to sort out the differences with Mahesh. This I will have to do directly and hopefully we will come to the middle ground we are both comfortable with.’’ |
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Hewitt flays
French Open organisers
PARIS, June 7 (AFP) — Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt slammed French Open organisers for forcing him to play in dangerous conditions and said he would have sued them if he had suffered an injury. Hewitt’s fourth-round match against Spaniard Albert Costa on Monday night began in dark, rainy conditions before being halted with Costa leading 6-3, 4-4. Ninth-seeded Hewitt won the second set when play resumed
yesterday but Costa then took the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the last eight. Hewitt said he was incensed about being asked to play late on Monday when organisers ordered play to continue in a bid to placate spectators who had seen little play all day. “It was the worst conditions I’ve ever gone onto a tennis court in,” he said. “It was raining right from the start. “I didn’t get asked about it at all. |
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Match-fixing
probe begins CAPE TOWN, June 7 (Reuters) — Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje and some of his team-mates considered taking up to $ 350,000 to lose an international match in India in 1996, a South African player told an inquiry today. “We attended a meeting in Hansie Cronje’s room in which he put it to us that he had received an offer for the team to lose a match for $ 250,000,’’ former South African spin bowler Pat Symcox told the King Commission. He said the team rejected the initial offer. “Four of us discussed the money afterwards and someone said perhaps we should try and get more out of them.” “Hansie picked up the phone, spoke to someone and told us we had another 100,000 dollars” Symcox said. He added that the sweetened offer was also later rejected. Meanwhile, a government inquiry into South African cricket opened today as retired Judge Edwin King began probing match-fixing allegations against former captain Hansie Cronje, saying there would be no witch-hunt. Cronje was sacked as South Africa’s captain on April 11 after confessing he had accepted up to $15,000 from bookmakers for providing pitch and weather information. He has denied involvement in match-fixing. “There appears...to be a perception that this commission should somehow or other be used or regarded as an instrument of revenge for some sort of a witch-hunt which is quite emphatically not so,” Judge King told a hearing room packed with journalists, sports figures and the public. He invited members of the public to give relevant information to the commission and said a telephone hotline could be set up. “I am going to be conducting an inquiry in the first instance of ascertaining the truth and any legitimate steps which may be taken will carry my concurrence and my support,” he said before adjourning the hearing to allow television cameras to leave the room. The international media have flocked to Cape Town for the inquiry, but Judge King has said no television cameras will be allowed to record the proceedings. Cronje was not present when the inquiry got underway. The disgraced national captain has lived as a virtual recluse since his midnight confession to South African cricket boss Ali Bacher that he accepted between $10,000 and $15,000 in cash from bookmakers based in South Africa and India. “This is going to make sure we know what is going on in our sport. It will be a benchmark. We’ll come out of this with clear recommendations and proposals to ensure that this does not happen again,” Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour told reporters as he arrived at the hearing. |
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CBI to re-examine Wadekar, Sidhu NEW DELHI, June 7 (PTI) — The CBI will soon examine former Indian cricket team manager Ajit Wadekar and cricketer-turned-commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu again in the wake of deposition and video tapes submitted by Manoj Prabhakar on match-fixing scandal. The agency sources said the two would be called soon and examined on the basis of the statement made by Prabhakar on May 24 and the tapes submitted on June 3, examination of which was completed. The two had been examined by the
CBI earlier last month in connection with the match-fixing scandal and both have reportedly denied the allegations of bribery made by Prabhakar against Kapil Dev. The sources said Singh and Wadekar, in their deposition before the agency, denied that they were aware of allegations made by Prabhakar that Kapil Dev had offered him Rs 25 lakh to play below his potential in a match against Pakistan in a triangular series in Sri Lanka. The viewing of nine video tapes by the special crime branch of the
CBI was completed and these would now be handed over to the legal cell of the agency to examine whether they could stand scrutiny in a court of law. Sidhu, who was named by Prabhakar as a witness to the offer allegedly made by Kapil Dev in a hotel room he shared with the former Indian opener, had told the agency that there was no truth behind the allegation, they said. Wadekar, during his deposition, also denied that Dev was involved in any match-fixing, the agency sources said. However, after Prabhakar’s deposition and submission of sensational video tapes, secretly shot by him, the case had changed and re-examining of these two was necessary now, the sources added. About the tapes submitted by Prabhakar, the sources said that since tapes were only a circumstantial evidence as per the law, it was necessary to cross-check with the players and officials. Among the witnesses cited by Prabhakar during his 90-minute deposition on May 24, the CBI will also examine shortly others including former skippers Mohammed Azharuddin, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, the sources said. Meanwhile, examination of bookies in Mumbai and other cities in connection with the match-fixing scandal was continuing, the sources said, adding the bookies were identified during the investigations carried out by various other agencies including Delhi police. In a related development the Income Tax Department said records and returns of three players hailing from the northern region, two from Mumbai, one from Hyderabad and a BCCI official from Calcutta were being scrutinised by its officials. |
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No American left
in French Open
PARIS, June 7 (DPA) — There can be no more love lost between the French capital and the US tennis players as there are no Americans left for Parisians to follow in the final stages at the French Open. Monica Seles, Venus Williams and Chanda Rubin crashed out in the quarterfinals of the women’s event on a black yesterday at Roland Garros, depriving the tournament of an American woman or man for the first time in 32 years since the start of the Open era. Back in May 1968 the streets of Paris were barricaded by angry students who protested violently against the establishment of President Charles de Gaulle and the US-led war in Vietnam. |
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French Open: familiar faces in women’s semis PARIS, June 7 (AFP) — The WTA Tour likes to boast of its new strength in depth and a new generation of stars in women’s tennis. The French Open semifinals, however, will be contested by four of the usual suspects — three-time winner Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, world number one Martina Hingis and two other top 10 players who have traditionally done well on the slow, red clay of Roland Garros. Hingis, the 19-year-old top seed, moved to within one win of her third final appearance here when she breezed by unseeded American Chanda Rubin 6-1 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Hingis will now meet local heroine Mary Pierce tomorrow. Sixth-seeded Pierce beat three-time champion Monica Seles 4-6 6-3 6-4 in her quarterfinal. Hingis is closing in on the only Grand Slam title she has never won, but this year she is trying to keep things in perspective after losing the final to Steffi Graf in last year’s final and to Iva Majoli in 1997. “It would be nice to win it — but I don’t need it,” she said. “I need oxygen to survive — but not the French Open.” Hingis clearly enjoyed herself against Rubin. “I think I played very well,” she said. “I was focused from the beginning.” Hingis
attacked Rubin at every opportunity, punishing any balls in midcourt. “It is very important to get a quick match behind me,” she said. “I’m feeling good. I’m quite confident and I have reason to be.” Martinez, who has been a semifinalist here three times before, beat 17-year-old qualifier and countrywoman Marta Marrero 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 in her quarters match. Sanchez-Vicario is still only 28, but says she’s getting better with every passing year. “I’m still improving and that’s what you have to do if you want to win this tournament,” she said. “I work hard to be in good shape. You need to be really fit against the younger players and with age I seem to get better and better.” Sixteenth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, shocked 10th-seeded fellow Spaniard and former finalist Alex Corretja 6-4, 6-4 6-2 in two hours 23 minutes yesterday. Ferrero, a 20-year-old playing only his third Grand Slam event, is aiming to emulate Sweden’s Mats Wilander, the only player to win the tournament on debut. Corretja, the 1998 finalist and playing his third Roland Garros quarterfinal, brought vastly more experience into the match. But he had lost the pair’s only previous meeting in 1999
Mallorca final for Ferrero’s only ATP Tour title to date. In women’s section, Spain’s Conchita
Martinez set another all-Spanish encounter in semifinals with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario after she had to scrape before squatting yet another Spaniard, 17-year-old qualifier Marta Marrero, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 to guarantee Spain a women’s finalist. Sixth seed Mary Pierce of France, showed sparkling form to oust three-time champion and third seed Monica Seles of the USA in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Seles, bidding for her first Roland Garros crown since completing a hat-trick in 1992, made the stronger start but Pierce dug in and forced her opponent onto the defensive. Seles’ defeat leaves the USA without any representative in either the men’s or women’s singles. |
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Hisar wrestlers win
freestyle title HISAR, June 7 — Hisar district annexed the girls freestyle title in the Haryana State Junior Wrestling Championship, winning four gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The meeting concluding at Charkhi Dadri in Bhiwani district yesterday. Bhiwani and Jind bagged the second and third position, respectively. CRZ Sonepat won the boys Greco-Roman title followed by Jhajjar and Bhiwani hostel, who were second and third, respectively. CBSM Nideni annexed the boys freestyle titles and HSET Nideni got second and third position, respectively. About 400 grapplers from all over the state took part in this three-day championship. The results: girls (freestyle): 43 kg: Neetu (Hisar) 1, Mamta (Bhiwani) 2, Shalu (Gurgaon) 3; 46 kg: Meena (Bhiwani) 1, Meena (Fatehabad) 2, Manju (Hisar) 3; 50 kg: Pooja Jindal (Hsr) 1, Reeta (Jind) 2, Kusum (Bhiwani) 3; 54 kg: Poonam (Bhiwani) 1, Vijay Laxmi (Ftb) 2, Asha (Hsr) 3; 58 kg: Gitika Jakhar (Hsr) 1, Poonam Dhamija (Bhiwani) 2, Geeta (Jind) 3; 63 kg: Reena (Jind) 1, Sudesh (Hsr) 2, Daya (Bhiwani) 3; 68 kg: Rajni (Hr) 1, Anita (Jind) 2, Poonam Bamal (Bhiwani) 3; plus 68 kg: Usha (Bhiwani) 1, Monika Dahiya (Jhajjar) 2, Sukhbinder (Hisar) 3. Boys (freestyle): 50 kg: Sanjay (Kaithal) 1, Sukhbir (Sirsa) 2, Sanjay (CBSM) 3; 54 kg: Rakesh (CBSM) 1, Rakesh (HSET Nideni) 2, Devender (CRZ Sonepat) 3; 58 kg: Paramjit (Jhajjar) 1, Bijender (Bhiwani hostel) 2, Anil (Bhiwani) 3; 63 kg: Sombir (CBSM) 1, Sanjay (Hsr) 2, Bijender (CRZ) 3; 69 kg: Jai Bhagwan (CBSM) 1, Ram Mehar (HSET) 2, Devender (Bhiwani) 3; 76 kg: Ajmer (Bhiwani) 1, Jaibir (HSET) 2, Ajay (CRZ) 3; 85 kg: Amarjeet (CBSM) 1, Devanand (Kaithal) 2, Naresh (Bhiwani) 3; 97 kg: Naveen (GGN) 1, Pradeep (Jhajjar) 2, Devender (Rohtak) 3; plus 97 kg: Virender (Bhiwani) 1, Manish Kumar (Gurgaon) 2. Boys (Greco-Roman): 50 kg: Satish (Fatehabad) 1, Amit (Panchkula) 2, Chand Singh (Sonepat) 3; 54 kg Sushil (Jhajjar) 1, Naresh (Mohindergarh) 2, Vikram (Gurgaon) 3; 58 kg: Kalu Dass (Bhiwani hostel) 1, Satish (CBS Nideni) 2, Dinesh (Bhiwani) 3; 63 kg: Satender (CRZ) 1, Vikram (Jhajjar) 2, Dilbag (Bhiwani) 3; 69 kg: Devanand (Bhiwani) 1, Devender (CRZ) 2, Kanwar Singh (Mohindergarh) 3; 76 kg: Lokesh (Fatehabad) 1, Sandeep (Mohindergarh) 2, Indervesh (Rewari) 3; 85 kg: Kalu Dass (Bhiwani hostel) 1, Dharambir (Rohtak) 2, Dalbir (CRZ) 3; 97 KG: Ved Pal (Bhiwani hostel) 1, Dharambir (CRZ) 2, Praveen (Jhajjar) 3; plus 97 kg: Mukesh (Jhajjar) 1, Kaptan (CRZ Sonepat) 2, Kultaj (Sirsa) 3. |
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Pressure mounts on Flintoff LONDON, June 7 (AFP) — All-rounder Andrew Flintoff has been given a clear warning that any further lapses of concentration may result in the loss of his England place this summer. The 22-year-old Lancastrian has been a regular in the England set-up ever since captain Nasser Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher assembled their winter tour party, both of them convinced he has the potential to develop into an international class all-rounder. But apart from the odd glimpse of explosive batting, his Test career to date has been a great disappointment after failing to reach 20 in seven of his 11 innings since making his debut against South Africa at Trent Bridge two years ago. His return to Nottingham for the drawn test against Zimbabwe this week continued that trend, collecting a pair of 16s after being trapped leg before attempting an ambitious pull and edging behind the wicket playing loosely outside off-stump. That double failure, particularly against an attack of Zimbabwe’s limited resources, has increased the pressure on Flintoff to perform sooner rather than later. “He’s got to be more patient,” observed coach Duncan Fletcher. “He’s an attacking player, but you get to the stage where you are thinking whether you should turn him into a defensive player and destroy this ability he’s got or let him carry on as he is doing. “He’s got to realise that he has to be a bit more patient when he plays Test cricket. His form is a concern to us but he’s a talent, he is young and I think he can develop into a very, very good all-rounder.” Even the one high spot of his brief Test career, the determined 42 he hit in the second Test at Port Elizabeth against South Africa in the winter, was a source of great frustration to England’s management. As Shaun Pollock prepared to take a rest from the attack, Flintoff plundered six boundaries in nine balls he faced from the South African fast bowler but instead of consolidating after that, attempted another big hit and was bowled. But despite the obvious flaws in Flintoff’s temperament at times,
Fletcher will resist any attempt to drop him in the immediate future and believes the only way forward is to have consistency of selection. “You hear people questioning whether we should be as patient with players and others say we should be more patient,” said Fletcher. “That’s the problem with English cricket, they are not particularly patient with players and we have to find some balance somewhere in there.” That principle is also likely to apply to Flintoff’s county team-mate Chris Schofield, who impressed with the bat at Trent Bridge with a determined 57 in the first innings, but was inconsistent with his leg spin and conceded 10 boundaries in finishing with
naught for 73 from 18 overs. Having fast-tracked him into the England side after just 16 championship matches for Lancashire, the selectors are not about to discard him so quickly — particularly as the recent wet weather hardly provides ideal conditions for a wrist spinner. |
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Mankad, Kirtane in last eight MUMBAI, June 7 (PTI) — Four Indians - Harsh Mankad, Sandeep Kirtane, Vinod Sridhar and Rishi Sridhar - made it to the last eight stage even as their compatriot Saurav Panja went down fighting in the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the $ 25,000 prize money ITF Satellite tennis circuit here today. Fourth-seeded Harsh Mankad became the first Indian to make it to the quarterfinals when he crushed unseeded Alexandre Sikanov of Russia 6-4, 6-0 in just 45 minutes. Former Davis Cupper Sandeep Kirtane followed suit when he rallied well, after dropping the first set 3-6, to pip another unseeded player Gwenael Gueit of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 while the two Sridhars - Vinod and Rishi - won their pre-quarterfinal matches in three hard fought sets. Lucky loser Rishi Sridhar, who had upset third-seeded Vishal Uppal yesterday, took two hours 21 minutes to sideline Marian Leysek of Slovakia 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 while seventh-seeded Vinod needed nearly two hours to subdue American qualifier John Rom 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. Wild card Saurav Panja slogged for two and a half hours before bowing out to fifth seeded Englishman Barry Fulcher 6-2, 5-7, 4-6 while top-seeded Danai Udomchoke of Thailand blanked out qualifier Amod Wakalkar 6-0, 6-0. Second seed Per Thornadtsson of Sweden too had an easy time beating Manoj Mahadevan 6-2, 6-4 while eighth-seeded American Kunj Majmudar sidelined qualifier Kedar Shah 6-4, 6-1. |
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