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| Monday, June 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Shearer gives England historic win British
media slams hooligans |
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| Germany threatened by early exit CHARLEROI (Belgium), June 18 — Germany’s rare defeat by England yesterday had a bitter taste for the defending champions, who improved on their recent poor showings but are now in great danger of making an early exit from Euro 2000.
Charges against Lara to be probed Stage
set for AITA junior tennis
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Shearer gives England historic win CHARLEROI (Belgium), June 18 (AP) — Alan Shearer headed England to its first championship victory over Germany since the 1966 Football World Cup final last night and put the defending titlist in danger of going out in the first round of the European Championship here. Shearer powered in a far post header from David Beckham’s cross in the 53rd minute to revive England’s chances of qualifying for the quarterfinal and spark celebrations not only in the stadium but in millions of homes back home. The result ended Germany’s amazing domination over England in major championships in the past 34 years. The Germans had knocked the English out of the 1970 and 1990 World Cups and the 1996 Euros either in the quarters or the semis and twice via penalty shootouts. “People back home have waited so long — so have I — this is magnificent,” coach Kevin Kegan said. “The character came through. It might carry us a long way through this tournament if we just believe in ourselves. I’m delighted for the fans.” Keegan, who has played several seasons for German club Hamburg after leaving Liverpool in late 1970s, noted he was 12 years old when England last beat Germany in a championship. The Germans created plenty of shooting chances but couldn’t get the ball past David Seaman in the England goal. On the other end, Michael Owen had a first half header pushed onto the post by German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. The victory gives England three points from two games, three behind Group A leaders Portugal. The Germans, who tied with Romania, has only one and must beat the Portugese to survive. Veteran German defender Lothar Matthaeus, who almost quit the team after pressure on him to step down at age 39, said the Germans paid the price for not making a breakthrough in the first half. “We could not force our way through in the second half,” he said. “England capitalised on its chance, that is the difference. Now we have to do our utmost to make as much as possible of our limited chances to go through.” German coach Erich Ribbeck said one piece of defensive slackness cost them the game. “We didn’t deserve to lose. We were better in the first half,” the under fire coach said. The game was played against a background of fan violence during the buildup and English fans also attacked the police on their way out of the stadium. Some 500 English fans were detained and most of them deported for rioting in downtown Brussels on the eve of the game and in Charleroi. Police also fired water cannons at English and German followers who began fighting in Charleroi’s main square on the afternoon of the game. The Germans were forced to face the English without AC Milan striker Oliver Bierhoff, who suffered a calf muscle injury in training, while real Madrid’s Steve McManaman and Arsenal captain Tony Adams were sidelined for England after picking up injuries in the 3-2 loss to Portugal. On a warm, sunny evening before a noisy crowd at Stade du Pays de Charleroi, neither team troubled the goalkeeper until the 18th minute when Dietmar Hamann, who plays in England for Liverpool, fired an angled 20-metre drive that goalkeeper With England unable to piece together any meaningful moves in the opening half hour, the Germans enjoyed plenty of possession and Seaman had to make saves from Mehmet Scholl and Christian Ziega before Kevin Keegan’s team finally came up with something to worry German captain Oliver Kahn. Philip Neville found Michael Owen with a left wing cross and the striker’s header was pushed onto the left post by Kahn. Sadly for England no one was following up to turn in the rebound and the Germans escaped. After two yellow cards in a minute for England’s David Beckham and Germany’s Jens Jeremies, the English created another opening when Beckham’s superbly weighted ball found Manchester United colleague Paul Scholes unmarked just inside the area but the left foot shot was blocked by Kahn. Ziege fired a 20m free kick just too high at the start of second half before England took the lead in the 53rd minute. Beckham fired in a well-weighted free kick that flashed past Owen and Scholes and their two markers and Shearer, left unmarked wide of the far post, planted a powerful header past unprotected Kahn to spark celebrations among the English fans. Germany almost levelled within a minute when Carsten Jancker neatly collected a cross from the right, and turned to fire a close range shot just too high from a tight angle. Then Mehmet Scholl took a deep pass and broke clear of the defence only for his shot to beat Seaman but roll just past the far post. Reuters adds: Portugal beat Romania 1-0 but were a shadow of the team which had looked so accomplished in their victory over England. The tough-tackling Romanians did what England failed to do and closed down the midfield threat of Luis Figo and Rui Costa, cutting off their fluid play at source. It was an uneventful match in which Romania had always looked the more likely to score until Costinha struck. The Monaco midfielder, playing in just his third international, came on as substitute in the 87th minute and scored his first goal for Portugal when he headed home a Figo free kick some five minutes and 42 seconds into stoppage time. Romania felt aggrieved and coach Emerich Jenei made his feelings known afterwards. “It is unfortunate that we lost in the last second — maybe even after the last second,” he said. “The referee showed four minutes but play went on longer than that.” Portugal, the fourth team to reach the last eight after Italy, France and the Netherlands, top group A with six points and will play their quarterfinal in Amsterdam against the team which finishes second in group B behind Italy — either Belgium, Turkey or Sweden. England have three
points and Germany and Romania one each before their
final matches. |
British media slams hooligans LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) — Britain’s newspapers slammed England’s drunken, rioting soccer fans today as sickening thugs who had brought shame on their country. The Belgian police arrested around over 800 hooligans on Friday and yesterday, most of them England supporters who had rampaged through Brussels and Charleroi before a crucial European Championship clash with Germany. England won the game 1-0. As hundreds of England fans were deported by aircraft and ferry, newspapers were unstinting in their condemnation. “The spectacle of baying English hooligans, rampaging through the streets of Brussels and Charleroi, is a source of national shame. They have inspired disgust and fear among their Belgian hosts,” the broadsheet Sunday Telegraph said. Across the political spectrum, one thing was clear: Football thuggery was unacceptable. “Get tough on the yobs that shame us,” the Left-leaning Sunday Mirror tabloid trumpeted alongside an article that asked: “Why do we breed the worst thugs in Europe?” The paper added: “Football hooligans must be given tough prison sentences, forbidden to travel abroad and banned from matches here.” The liberal Independent today was equally disgusted by the violence, racist abuse and drunkenness which accompanied an England football match abroad and suggested a radical solution. “If specialist police units and passport seizures aren’t capable of bringing these thugs to heel, then the only honourable solution will be for England to withdraw from internationals.” Trouble erupted in the Brussels city centre on Friday. Violence continued in Charleroi, the venue for the match, before the kick off at 1845 GMT yesterday. Belgium was expected to deport all but 11 of the 374 England fans arrested in Brussels. They would remain in custody. The mayor of Charleroi said some 450 fans, most of them British, had been arrested there. The first groups arrived in subdued mood at Manchester airport yesterday afternoon. Some of the deportees said the fighting was sparked by heavy handed Belgian police. “It was the Belgian
police who were the thugs. I was having a quiet drink in
a bar with a mate when it all blew up. They (the police)
were wielding batons and spraying gas. As far as I was
concerned I was perfectly innocent and so were loads of
others,” a fan, Steve Bowman, told the News of The
World. |
Sweden, Turkey looking for miracle GEEL (BELGIUM), June 18 (Reuters) — Sweden need a mathematical miracle tomorrow but for Italy the Euro 2000 match in Eindhoven is little more than a training session. The Swedes must beat Dino Zoff’s side to stand a chance of joining them in the quarterfinals. They also need Turkey to beat Belgium in Brussels the same evening. Then, maybe, just maybe, they can squeeze through to the last eight on goal difference. Not surprisingly, Sweden chances of winning the tournament are rated at 250-1 following their 1-2 defeat by Belgium and their woeful 0-0 draw with Turkey. And their chances of progressing will take a further knock if, as expected, leading marksman Kennet Andersson is ruled out of the match with an ankle injury. Andersson, who plays for Bologna, has plenty of experience of unlocking formidable Italian defence and his absence would be a major setback. “He has been just running today and working a little bit at the gym. We’ll have to wait and see,” Swedish co-coach Lars Lagerback said yesterday. At the other end of the pitch, Alessandro Del Piero should make an eagerly-awaited first start for Italy. The nimble Juventus forward made fleeting appearances as a substitute in his side’s victories over Turkey and Belgium but is expected to play from the opening whistle this time. Italy need nothing from the match having already qualified for the last eight as group winners and Zoff is certain to rest several first team players. “Certainly in terms of form and maybe also psychologically ... I’ve perhaps never been this well prepared before,” Del Piero said. “I don’t think the fact the coach has chosen the same line-up for the last two matches means that’s the end of the story for me.” Del Piero will play alongside either Vincenzo Montella or his as Roma team-mate Marco Delvecchio, who came on as a substitute against the Belgians. Zoff will rest Juventus midfielders Antonio Conte and Gianluca Zambrotta, who both picked up yellow cards in Italy’s last match. Massimo Ambrosini, Angelo Di Livio and Luigi Di Biagio are vying to take their places. Sweden will welcome back captain Patrik Andersson, who was suspended for the Turkey game after being sent off against the Belgians. Fellow defender Roland Nilsson has recovered from concussion and an ankle injury and should start. “Countries like Italy suit Sweden and we can give them a good game,” Lagerbeck said. “I don’t think it’s unbelievable that Turkey can beat Belgium and, if we can score at least as many goals as them against Italy, then we can still go through.” TIELEN (Belgium): It’s make or break time for Belgium and Turkey in Brussels on Monday. The co-hosts need a draw to book a date with the winners of group A in Amsterdam next Saturday. For Turkey, after a disappointing Euro 2000, nothing short of victory will do. On paper and on the evidence of the tournament so far, Belgium should have no problems getting the point they require to join group winners Italy in the last eight. But coach Robert Waseige is warning against complacency and knows Mustafa Denizli’s team could finally live up to their billing as the coming men of European football. “I’m not deviating from my approach. We’ll be playing to win. If we play for a draw, we’re much less likely to get it,” Waseige said. Turkey were beaten 1-2 by Italy and played out a dull 0-0 draw with Sweden, performances which have gravely disappointed their fervent fans back home. “The problem with Turkey is that we know much less about them than about the other teams in the tournament,” Waseige said. “They’ve had some good moments, but also some rather less good ones. The coach has been looking for the right formula. He might still find it.” Unfancied before the tournament, Belgium made people take notice with their 2-1 defeat of Sweden and their fluid, intense display in a 0-2 defeat by Italy. With their midfield performing well around the tireless Marc Wilmots and rising star Emile Mpenza making waves in attack, the Red Devils are confident they can find gaps in Turkey’s defence. But they must avoid defensive lapses like the one which gave Italy the lead within six minutes. “If we play like we did against Italy and avoid letting in a silly early goal, we’ve got every chance,” said winger Mbo Mpenza.Certainly history is on the Belgians’ side. They have not lost to Turkey in four meetings and won both games in the World Cup qualifiers in 1996 and 1997. Waseige, who criticised his players on Friday for being complacent, may replace target man Branko Strupar with Luc Nilis while the other question mark surrounds the left back position. Nico Van Kerckhoven, who replaced Philippe Leonard against Italy, had to leave the field with concussion and his replacement Marc Hendrikx performed impressively. After going down to Italy with a controversial penalty and achieving their first European Championship point against the Swedes, the Turks have nothing to lose. Whether they achieve it will depend as much as anything on psychology — Denizli said it took the team two days to recover mentally from criticism after their defeat by Italy. They will be looking to striker Hakan Sukur to open up the Belgian defence and hope finally to show the style that helped Galatasaray win the UEFA Cup. Belgium’s Wilmots summed up the situation for both teams. “Anyone who’s
lacking motivation for this game needs to find himself a
new job.” |
Germany threatened by early exit CHARLEROI (Belgium), June 18 (Reuters) — Germany’s rare defeat by England yesterday had a bitter taste for the defending champions, who improved on their recent poor showings but are now in great danger of making an early exit from Euro 2000. “It hurts, not only because this leaves us with only a theoretical chance of reaching the quarter-finals, but also because we deserved another result,’’ said head coach Erich Ribbeck. The Germans, who had not lost to England in a competitive match in 34 years, dominated their arch-rivals in the first half, then put them under pressure after Alan Shearer scored with a header in the 53rd minute. “The English had one chance and scored a goal,’’ said veteran libero Lothar Matthaeus, who had come under fire after looking lost in a 1-1 draw with Romania in Germany’s opening match. “We played much better than in our first match but it was not enough,’’ said the 39-year-old, who answered critics with a decent performance as he extended his world record to 149 caps. The captain of Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning team looks set to win his 150th — but it may well be his last. Germany are on course to bow out in the group stage — something that has not happened to them in a major tournament since the 1984 European Championship finals. Only if they beat Portugal on Tuesday and Romania defeat England will they stand a chance. “It was just not
our day,’’ said goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who
took over the captaincy from injured Oliver Bierhoff. |
IT Dept had quizzed Kapil about ‘undisclosed’ payments NEW DELHI, June 18 (UNI) — The Income Tax Department had grilled India’s cricket icon Kapil Dev three years ago for his “undisclosed” payments to a Mumbai-based builder. Kapil’s interrogation for more than four hours in the capital followed soon after a raid by the IT Department in Mumbai in 1997 on the premises of builder Ramnik Chavda during which his personal diary containing details of the money received by him from various persons including Kapil Dev was found. One of the entries in Chavda’s diary had a code “KD” which the builder admitted referred to Kapil, sources in the department said. According to the entries in Chavda’s diary, Kapil had paid him Rs 50 lakh in cheques and Rs 83 lakh in cash. On the basis of the notings in the diary, summons were issued to Kapil in Delhi by the department and he promptly appeared along with his chartered accountant. Kapil appeared before the investigation wing of the department and was interrogated regarding the cash payments evidently made by him to Chavda. The sources said the cricketer was not comfortable during the interrogation and reacted sharply when posed with probing questions. “Asked to explain the investments, Kapil owned up the transactions by cheque but vehemently refused having paid any money in cash,” the sources said. During the interrogation, the former India captain also admitted having known Chavda “very well” and that he loaned the builder money for his projects. “Scrutiny of certain documents had, however, indicated that Kapil was an active business partner of the builder,” the sources claimed. Kapil had a joint venture with Chavda by the name of Devyogi Enterprises. “The cash amount was later deemed Kapil’s undisclosed income as the nature of the transactions made it appear that it was his money,” the sources said. “The entire amount was paid within a period of less than a year. The account maintained by Chavda in his personal diary could only be either fully correct or fully wrong. It could hardly be partially correct as Kapil’s admission made it out to be,” the sources explained. “The file which was subsequently sent to the assessment wing is very active now in the light of the CBI investigations into allegations of match-fixing and betting in Indian cricket,” they said adding that the bureau might have a look into it. The sources confirmed that Kapil’s payments including the cash component of Rs 83 lakh, were assessed in the cricketer’s tax assessment for 1998-99 as also in that of the builder as both had since come out with conflicting claims. Chavda, the sources said, had claimed that the transactions were made by Kapil. “Both have appealed to their respective appellate authorities in the department in Delhi and Mumbai. We had to protectively add the amount to Kapil’s accounts as well so that the department is not a loser in case claim of any of the two is knocked off. Cash transactions require corroborative evidence like the presence of a witness,” the sources said. Meanwhile, the department has started investigating the undisclosed income and unexplained expenditure of some of the present and past Indian cricketers against whom allegations of match-fixing have been made. “We are on the investigation mode now,” the sources said. Hitherto, the department was looking at the tax returns filed by the cricketers in the past 10 years in the light of the unfolding allegations. “As part of the investigations, the department will now scrutinise undisclosed income and unexplained investments and expenditure of the cricketers,” the sources said. “We are not bothered about match-fixing as such. For us, the colour of the money (origin) is not important,” the sources said. Among the cricketers whose names have been drawn into match-fixing and betting scandal are former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, current coach and legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, Ajay Jadeja and Nayan Mongia besides Manoj Prabhakar, who ironically first raked up the issue three years back. The IT sleuths will also
look into the assets and investments of the wives and
other family members of the cricketers. “It is a
matter of routine to look into the assets of the
immediate family members of the assesses,” the
sources said. |
Charges against Lara to be probed BIRMINGHAM, June 18 (AP) — The West Indies cricket board has said it will investigate allegations that star batsman Brian Lara profited from gambling during a tour to South Africa seven years ago. The WICB president Pat Rousseau yesterday called for a “thorough investigation” even though he said he supports Lara’s denial that he placed bets on matches and supplied information to a bookmaker during a triangular series in South Africa in 1993. “I have discussed these allegations with Brian Lara and he has denied any involvement with anyone as implied in the report,” Rousseau said. “Until any allegation is proven, I accept Lara’s position and support him fully. “I am requesting the WICB conduct a thorough investigation into this matter in keeping with our policy of dealing firmly but fairly with charges of impropriety in West Indies cricket.” Rousseau issued his statement in Birmingham, where the West Indies was playing England in a test match at Edgbaston. Earlier, West Indies manager Ricky Skerrit said: “We are assured by Brian Lara that the allegations are without any foundation. “The West Indies team is in the UK to play cricket and we will not be participating in any further discussion on this matter,” he added. A South African businessman has alleged that Lara laced a winning bet on a 1993 match and received payment of about $ 3,000, according to newspaper reports. Lara, allegedly wagered on a match during a February 1993 triangular series involving South Africa, Pakistan and the West Indies, according to a report on Friday in Natal Witness newspaper. The Times of London ran a similar report yesterday. A South African businessman, who has declined to be identified, has given an affidavit saying he paid out 20,000 rand (about $ 3,000) on March 3, 1993, “for winning bets” placed by Lara. The businessman, who lives in Cape Town, said he did not want to be named “with all the threats that are flying around at present,” the newspaper said. International cricket has been rocked by a series of match-fixing allegations in recent months. Former South African cricket captain Hanse Cronje testified this week that he accepted bribes, though he claims neither he nor his teammates threw any matches. Cronje also alleged that the former Pakistan captain Salim Malik, and former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin were also linked to bookmakers. Malik and Azharuddin have hotly denied the claims. Lara, who holds many of
the games batting records, had not previously been
implicated in the recent scandal. |
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FRANKFURT, June 18 (PTI) — World number 2 grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India suffered a shock defeat to computer programme Fritz in the first game of the two-game exhibition match in the Frankfurt Chess Festival being played here. Anand was the only loser last evening as other human v/s machine games ended in stalemate. Playing with white pieces, Anand opted for an irregular variation as the programme is well versed with the theory. A position akin to Dutch Defence arose and the machine equalised easily in the ensuing middlegame. Anand initiated a queen side attack and opened files while at the same time trying to counter black’s threats on the king side. On the 30th move, Anand went for the queen exchange that proved disastrous owing to rook penetration on the vital seventh rank by the machine. The endgame was rooks with the opposite coloured Bishops but the weak pawn structure of Anand helped Fritz to obtain a passed pawn. Anand’s Bishop remained confined to the defence of his own pawns and the activity of rival pieces forced his resignation on the 45th move. GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia too got the white pieces in the first game and faced the Leningrad Dutch structure. The game took violent turns when Kramnik steamrolled his queenside pawns in the middlegame and allowed Fritz to gain total control in the centre. Queens got traded on the 19th move in middlegame and Fritz obtained a passed queen knight pawn. Sensing danger Kramnik went for a pawns exchange mission and succeeded in eliminating all but one. The game was drawn in the rook and knight ending after 53 moves. GM Peter Leko of Hungary drew from the black side of a Scotch opening game. After established theoretical moves, Leko uncorked a new idea by bringing his queen rook to queenside to attack dark square bishop. Fritz dismantled the pawn structure but had to surrender the Bishop pair advantage to Leko as compensation. The resulting position was equal and the truce was agreed after 47 moves. GM Alexander Morozevich of Russia employed his favourite French Defence and got a dynamically balanced position after the opening. The street fighting skills of Morozevich came to fore as he matched the machine move for move and drew the game after 36 moves in an opposite colour bishops endgame. GM Alexei Shirov of Spain will play his game on the 22nd June as he is away playing in another GM tournament. Fritz 6 with an
approximate playing strength of 2700 ELO is running on a
Pentium III Xeon processor and the product is called
Primergy K 800. All players will play their second game
with colours reversed. |
Stage set
for AITA
junior tennis CHANDIGARH, June 18 — The stage is set for the main rounds of the AITA junior tennis tournament for boys and girls in under-14 and under-16 sections beginning here tomorrow at the CLTA courts, Sector 10. Today more than 300 players took part in the qualifying rounds for various events. Out of them eight were chosen in each section and four wild cards were given. Twenty players had got direct entry to main rounds based on the AITA ranking points. Those who have qualified for the main rounds are: Girls U-14: Aeshita Dwivedi, Alipt Sandhu, Hiragi Mukhi, Shilpa Dalmia, Kasturi, Anuradha Shankar, Aastha Uppal and Nitisha Deodhar. U-16: Bhavani, Aeshita, K. Pooja, Priya, Anuradha, D. Tejeswani, Pallavi Sharma and Kamalpreet Bhullar. Boys U-14: Raghav Nanda, Jitender Mehlda, K. Arjun Reddy, P. Vivek Reddy, Dilpreet Gill, Sumit Prakash, Arnav Jain and Allan Bose. Boys U-16: Jition Bisnoi, Rupash Rai, Kshitij Dwivedi, Rewant Dutta, M. Vinod, Ankit Raj, Tushar Garg and Keshavan Narsimran. The top seed in qualifying rounds of under-16 section, Surya Chalansripati was upseted by Jition Bisnoi in the final rounds played today. Meanwhile the seedings of the main rounds were decided late in the evening. In under-16 boys, Dhrub Kumar of West Bengal with 106 AITA ranking points and ranked fourth in India in this section, was given the top billing. Chhatwinder Singh formerly of Chandigarh and now with Britannia Academy, Chennai and playing for Tamil Nadu and ranked 12th in AITA rankings, is the fourth seed. The other seeds in this section are,V. Vignesh (AP) 2, Sam Deb K.( TN) 3, Rishi (Mah) 5, Wrick Ganguly (Del) 6, Nehal Advani (Mah) 7, Inder Kumar (AP) 8. In girls under-16
section, Priyanka Parikh of West Bengal, who has 120 AITA
points and is ranked fourth is the top seed. The other
seeds are: Ankita Bhambri (Del) 2, Sanaa Bhambri (Del) 3,
Oormila Rao 4, Neha Singh (Chd) 5, Megha Vakaria (Mah) 6,
Naina Karsolia 7, Kartaki 8. |
ITF meet in Delhi from today NEW DELHI, June 18 — Though the heat and humidity is a deterrent factor, the Indian players are likely to go all out in the third leg of the $ 6250 ITF Men’s Satellite Tennis Circuit starting at the Delhi Tennis Association courts tomorrow, as the lone slot in the Indian Davis Cup team, made vacant due to the wrist injury suffered by Leander Paes, will be decided after watching the players in action here. With Harsh Mankad’s name figuring as a probable candidate, others like Vinod Sridhar, Vijay Kannan, Ajay Ramaswamy, Sandeep Kirtane, winner of the title in the first leg in Mumbai and Mustafa Ghouse are also determined to stake their claims by giving off their best in front of the national selectors in Delhi. Delhi will host both the third leg, as well as the Masters (from June 26 to 30) and the selectors will get enough opportunities to have a good look at the Davis Cup aspirants. Four Indians figure among the seeds, which is headed by Thai Davis Cupper Danai Udomchoke, winner of the title in the second leg at Bangalore yesterday. Harsh Mankad, runner-up to the Thai, is seeded second while Sandeep Kirtane is seeded third. Vinod Sridhar (No 5) and Ajay Ramaswamy (No 6) are the other Indians to get seedings. Four Indians — Kamla Kannan, Vikrant Chadha, Parantap Chaturvedi and Alok Bhinde — have been given wild cards while eight others have made it to the main draw through the qualifying routes, who include Indians Sanzaruz Zaman, Ajay Chowdepalli, Amod Wakalkar, Rohan Bopanna, Yasser Mohammed and Vijendra Laad. In the 32-player singles field, there are 11 foreigners, including a player of Indian origin representing the USA — Kunj Majmudar. Sandeep Kirtane takes on
Yasser Mohammed, Laad meets Barru Fulcher of Britain,
Vijay Kannan clashes against Bhide, Panja plays Parantap
Chaturvedi and Zaman meets Marian Leysek in the
eight-match card scheduled on the first day tomorrow. Due
to the heat, all the matches have been scheduled in the
morning. |
Shearer offered captaincy CHARLEROI (Belgium), June 18 (AFP) — England coach Kevin Keegan watched Alan Shearer’s match-winning performance against Germany at Euro 2000 football championship last evening and promptly offered him the captaincy for their 2002 World Cup campaign. Shearer has said he will retire from international soccer after this tournament — but Keegan made it clear here last night he wanted the centre-forward to re-think his decision. The Newcastle idol, top scorer at Euro 96, came in for heavy criticism during England’s protracted campaign to qualify for these finals. But Keegan took the opportunity to strike back at his skipper’s tormentors during the post-match press conference -and also put a question mark over his decision to quit. “Alan Shearer has answered his critics again, just give him two or three days before you start on him again in English press, will you?” Keegan said, warming up to his theme.
|
Prasad, Agarkar at MRF camp CHENNAI, June 18 (PTI) — Five of the current Indian fast bowlers are MRF Pace Foundation here to get their problems sorted out by legendary Australian speedster Dennis Lillee. Venkatesh Prasad, Ajit Agarkar, Debasish Mohanty, T. Kumaran and Amit Bhandari would train under Lillee for 10 days according to T.A. Sekar, coach of the foundation. The five Indian bowlers, who arrived on Friday, held separate discussions with the Australian. Lillee observed these bowlers in action and suggested some corrective measures. Ever since the foundation went international four years ago, cricketers from different cricket boards have been visiting the academy regularly. This year, six bowlers, two each from Kenya, Sri Lanka and Australia are undergoing training under Lillee’s supervision. Paul Roff, who was in
the Australian under-19 squad for the World Cup in
Colombo early this year and Shane Watson, along with the
five Indian bowlers attended the seminar conducted by
Lillee and six other Australian experts today. |
HP to
hold
North Zone boxing meet SHIMLA, June 18 — The Northern India Boxing Federation has decided to sent its teams to South Asian countries to help improve their boxing skills. The federation which met here yesterday also decided to invite South Asian boxing teams to northern states. It urged the Centre to set up a “centre of excellence” and an indoor stadium in Himachal Pradesh to train talented boxers of north India. It was also decided to spend 75 per cent of its budget on the training, boarding and lodging of boxers. It also finalised the programme for various events. The North Zone Senior Boxing Championship will be held in Himachal Pradesh, junior championship in Punjab and the under-17 meet in Chandigarh. Mr SS Dhindsa, the Union
Sports Minister, was made the chief patron. |
Paid
coaching
scheme okayed PATIALA June 18 — The much-touted paid coaching scheme of the Patiala Cricket Association has now been given the final nod at the association’s annual general body meeting held here today. Addressing a press conference after the AGM, the President of the association, Mr S.K. Sinha, said the scheme would be run of the concept of pay and play and each budding cricketer willing to join the scheme would have to pay Rs 500 towards registration charges and Rs 150 per month to avail himself of the services of the scheme. So far 83 cricketers in various age groups had got themselves registered with the association, while the number of cricketers to be enrolled in the scheme has been limited to a maximum of 120. There would be three age groups in the coaching scheme — under 12, 12-14 and 14 onwards. The services of six former Ranji Trophy cricketers would be availed of for the purpose. Mr Sinha added that the H.L. Parwana memorial and the M.L. Markan memorial trophy would be revived. These two tournaments could not be held for the past two years as the Punjab Cricket Association could not provide slots to the district body to accommodate the two tourneys. Now the district association had requested the Punjab Cricket Association to provide them slots to ensure the revival of the two tournaments. Meanwhile, Mr S.K. Sinha
was re-elected President of the Patiala Cricket
Association for a term of three years. Mr R.P. Pandove
was re-elected Honorary Secretary, Mr Umesh Kumar Joint
Secretary and Mr G.S. Walia Treasurer. |
 |
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