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| Sunday, December 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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IA retain hockey crown Expert Comments Indian rowers enter three more finals Brian Lara hammers
182 Rhodes, Kirsten fashion SA
win Ajay Jadeja may go to court Unbeaten 94 by
Ravneet Ricky |
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GND varsity
eves in cricket semis Cooch Behar Under-19 final Paes-Bhupathi in
final Dasmunshi re-elected AIFF
president Indian eves
come a cropper FC Kochin down Salgaocar Ronaldo can resume
training in Jan Malkit outboxes
Vicky Computerised scoring
introduced
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IA retain hockey crown JAMMU, Dec 16 (UNI) — Playing to a plan and spearheaded by Olympians Mukesh Kumar and Dilip Tirkey, defending champions India Airlines outplayed Railways 3-0 in the 60th Senior National Hockey Championship, to extend their lease on the Rangaswamy Cup here today. All the goals came in the second session in a space of 12 minutes. Olympian Dilip Tirkey, international Brojan Singh and Olympian Mukesh Kumar scored a goal each for the winners. It was a sweet revange for the Airlines who, a decade ago in 1990, had lost to the Railways in the final of the nationals vie tie-breaker in this temple city. Earlier Punjab overcame spirited Punjab and Sind Bank 5-3 to take the third place. This was the eighth time that the two teams clashed in the finals of the nationals since 1977. That year the teams were declared joint winners. After that Airlines has won thrice, including today’s title and the Railways four times. The final began on a sedate note with the teams trying to gauge each other’s strength. The new-look Railway side took time to open up but they did manage to have more possession of ball and control of the midfield but they failed to breach the rival defence. Railmen earned five penalty corners — two in first half and three in the second — but they muffed them all. Airlines were awarded two penalty corners and they managed to convert one through Dilip Tirkey. It was not best of the finals as both the teams played under pressure, Airlines grabbed the chances that came their way in the 57th, 66th and 69th minute while Railways wasted the chances and paid the price. The game was confined to the midfield for the first 15 minutes and after that it opened up Airlines made the first incisive move which fetched them their first penalty corner. The Railways goal had a close shave as Dilip Tirkey’s shot just missed the target. The Railways retaliated immediately and Airlines defence came under tremandous pressure and in the process conceded two penalty corners in a space of three minutes- 24th and 27th minute-but both were muffed as Arup Tirkey failed to find the target Olympian duo of Mukesh Kumar and Sameer Dad were bogged down by the crowded Railways defence and defending champions had tough time in warding off the rival’s counter attacks. Railways forwards Dawood Suleiman and Lalit Ekka kept the star-studded Airlines defence on their tows but they were not able to cut through them. As both the teams failed to achieve the
breakthrough, the game again was confined to the midfield in the last phase of the first half as no team wanted to take risk. Mukesh did try a few solo moves and so did Sameer Dad but Railways were not overawed by their reputation and easily frustrated their efforts. Railways forwards clearly lacked
strategy as most of them after failing to dribble past the rival defence spearheaded by Olympians Dilip Tirkey and Lazrus Barla tried to make solo attempts only to be frustrated. Two minutes into the second session, Railways forced their third penalty corner and once again it went abegging. After that Airlines launched furious counter attacks. Railways citadel came under tremandous pressure and though custodian Ambuj Srivastva brought off some good, there was panic in the defence as Airlines unleashed a flurry of attacks from all sides. Railmen defence managed to hold on to their ground against some sustained attacks orchestrated by right winger Mukesh Kumar, Altaf-ur-Rehman, Sameer Dad and former India captain Shakeel Ahmed. Airlines, reeling under Railway’s sudden onslaught, made incisive counter-moves and earned their second penalty corner in the 57th minute and this time Dilip Tirkey made no mistake to send the ball home (1-0). The goal stunned Railways and before they could get their act
together, their citadel was breached again by Brojan Singh who captalise on the defensive lapse to shot home the second goal. This
happened in the 66th minute and that snuffed out Railway’s challange. Fully realising that Railmen have been totally demoralised Airlines kept up the pressure and a minute before the final whistle Mukesh Kumar completed the tally as he sent the ball into the cage (3-0) to help his side win the Rangaswamy Cup for the ninth time since 1977. |
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Expert Comments IT’s show time. After a topsy-turvy first two days, the semifinal teams have been identified at the World Doubles Championships in Bangalore. The semifinal line-up is Paes/Bhupathi vs. Ferreira/Leach and Norval/Johnson Vs Aspelin/ Landsberg. From here on, all teams will be firing on all cylinders as the tournament enters the knockout stage. On day 3, the biggest news was Paes and Bhupathi’s loss in an inconsistent performance against Alex O’Brien and Jared Palmer of the USA. After getting on top with a flying start the Indian duo faltered and lost their way to lose in a third set tiebreak. This will hopefully serve as a wake up call and galvanize them into top form for the remainder of the tournament. Paes and Bhupathi carried on from their first two matches and broke O’Brien serve in the first game and followed it up with another break to take the first set. They were unlucky to lose the second set and the third set went all the way to the wire but one could see that Leander and Mahesh were struggling to keep up the tempo. The luckiest team of the tournament has to be Rick Leach and Ellis Ferreira. Rick Leach was already talking of his retirement plans even though they beat the Australian combination of Eagle/Florent. Having already booked their seats to fly home, they were given a new lease of life when Aspelin and Landsberg who came into the tournament as alternates beat the pair of Oncins and Orsanic in straight sets to come through as the only undefeated team from both the groups. This meant that the Leach/Ferreira pair pipped the Aussie team of Florent and Eagle to the post. Aspelin and Landsberg has been the surprise packet of the tournament. They have looked the best team so far and it just goes to show the depth in men’s tennis today. Norval/Johnson beat Stolle and Haarhuis to book their berth in the semifinal. The Aussie and Dutch pair have had a miserable tournament and they would do well to try and forget this week as fast as they can. The semifinals are going to be keenly contested. The Indian pair needs to forget their last loss and concentrate on attacking Leach who at 36 is no spring chicken. Ellis Ferreira is the flashier player and is also the more erratic one. If Leander can get a high percentage of first serves and Mahesh returns well, the Indians should get through to their third World Championship final. The second semi-final should see Norval/Johnson go through. But Aspelin and Landsberg are the team in form and Norval/Johnson will have to play controlled and aggressive tennis for the better part of three sets to put it across the tough and resourceful Swedes. The response for the tournament has not been that great but the organizers are confident that the near empty stands will fill up for the weekend. This is good news for Leander and Mahesh who like nothing better than playing in front of home crowds. |
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Indian rowers enter three more finals CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — Indian rowers kept the faith of their coach intact and entered the finals of three more events at the sixth Asian Junior Rowing Championship at Sukhna Lake here today. With today’s races India have entered the finals of six events. Local girl Gurpreet Kaur made up for the opening day’s lapse and stormed through to the final with a time of 8.52.76. Only Kim Uh-ha of Korea could provide some competition for Gurpreet. There was hardly any wind and the conditions helped Gurpreet who is more comfortable in calm waters. The Indian due of G. Nagraj and Satish Shirsat finished third in their race behind Korea and Uzbekistan but still qualified for the final of men’s coxless pairs. They had a close race with the Uzbeks. In fact, they lost the initiative after a good start. For the first 1,000 metres they were neck-and-neck with the Korean duo of Kin Dong-wan and Ka Woo Hyun. The Indians at that stage were just .43 seconds slowers. But the Uzbeks came up strongly in the last 1,000 metres to take the second spot from the Indians by .50 seconds. India also qualified for the final in the women’s coxless fours. The quartet of Purna Laxmi Rai, Elezabeth, Manjula Rai and Mary Monika Minj came in third behind Uzbekistan and Kora. They narrowly beat Chinese Taipei to enter the finals. But the Indian teams in women’s double sculls and coxless pairs failed to find a place in the final. Purna Laxmi Rai and Monika Minj came last in the women’s coxless pairs. They were almost 30 seconds slower than third-placed Chinese Taipei team. Manjula Rai and Elezabeth also failed to qualify for the double sculls final though they finished second in 8.38.06. China qualified for the event final. With hardly any wind, the going was much smoother for the rowers today. Manager of the Indian women’s team Smita Yadav is hopeful of Gurpreet grabbing a medal tomorrow. “It all depends on the wind conditions. If they are favourable, nearing there’s hardly any wind then Gurpreet can also get the gold. She feels better in calm waters as she is more used to them so let’s hope there’s no wind tomorrow.” The manager of the boys team is hopeful of his teams getting a medal in at least all events. Sunil is carrying gold medal hopes for the team. The rowers managed to post much faster times today. Tomorrow is the last day and the races began at 9.30 a.m. The Minister of State for Railways, Mr Digvijay Singh, will be the chief guest for the closing ceremony. Other results:
Men: double sculls (race A): Japan (7.24.98) 1, Korea (7.41.98) 2, Uzbekistan (7.43.36) 3; race B:Taipei (7.33.17) 1, China (7.36.51) 2, Indonesia (7.41.71) 3; coxless pairs: Korea (7.29.89) 1, Uzbekistan (7.37.02) 2, India (7.37.52) 3, Hong Kong (7.40.23) 4, Singapore (8.02.92) 5; single sculls (race A): Korea (8.13.34) 1, Indonesia (8.20.46) 2, Taipei (8.21.43) 3; race B: Singapore (8.13.75) 1, Uzbekistan (8.55.84) 2, China (8.14.37) 3; coxless fours: China (6.56.85) 1, Taipei (7.00.81) 2, Korea (7.03.05) 3, Uzbekistan (7.23.40) 4, Singapore (7.40.23) 5. Women:
single sculls: India (8.52.76) 1, Korea (8.57.81) 2, uzbekistan (9.06.06) 3, Hong Kong (9.25.35) 4,Taipei (9.36.88) 5; coxless fours: Uzbekistan (7.36.80) 1, Korea (7.40.60) 2, India (8.13.17) 3, Taipei (8.13.80) 4; coxless pairs: Korea (8.40.25) 1, China (8.42.63) 2, Taipei (8.45.91) 3, India (9.15.28) 4; double sculls (race A): China (8.30.84) 1, India (8.38.06) 2, Uzbekistan (8.47.79) 3; race B: Japan (8.37.50) 1, Taipei (9.11.85) 2, Singapore (withdrawn). |
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ADELAIDE (Australia), Dec 16 (Reuters) — The third Test between Australia and West Indies was delicately balanced after an intriguing second day’s play at Adelaide Oval today. Australia were 180 for three in their first innings, still 211 runs behind the tourists total of 391, underpinned by 182 from Brian Lara. The ex-captain scored almost half his team’s runs to record his fourth highest score in Test cricket in a vintage display featuring 29 fours and a six. The 31-year-old left hander had come to the wicket before lunch on Friday and despite suffering a hamstring strain and being out of form, he managed to occupy the crease for six hours. He added 46 to his overnight score of 136, including eight boundaries, before Australian off-spinner Colin Miller found an edge and Mark Waugh took a regulation catch at slip just before lunch. West Indies had started the second day at 274-4 and looked to be heading towards a score of around 450 before Lara’s dismissal triggered another predictable collapse and they lost their last five wickets for 37. Thirty-six-year-old Miller, a cricketing journeyman who has played just 15 Tests and bowls a mixture of medium pace and off-spin, mopped up the tail to finish with 5-81, his second best figures in test cricket. He will head into the second innings on a hat-trick after dismissing the last two West Indians, Ridley Jacobs and Courtney Walsh, in successive balls. Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie also bagged five wickets when he added nightwatchman Mervyn Dillon in the first over of the morning after collecting all four scalps the previous day. But with the flat Adelaide Oval pitch living up to its reputation as a batsman’s paradise, neither he nor any of the other quick bowlers managed to claim another wicket all day. Australia, whose innings victory in the second Test in Perth gave them a world record 12th straight test win, quickly set about erasing the deficit before a minor collapse halted their progress in the final half hour before stumps. Openers Matthew Hayden and Michael Slater both scored half centuries to put on 156 for the opening wicket before falling in quick succession. Hayden made 58 after scores of 44 and 69 in the previous two tests before he was run out at the non-striker’s end for the second time in the series. He called Slater through for a quick single but hesitated as he raced down the track and was caught short of his ground. SCOREBOARD West Indies (first innings): S. Campbell lbw b Gillespie 18 D. Ganga b Gillespie 23 W. Hinds c Ponting b Gillespie 27 B. Lara c Waugh b Miller 182 J. Adams c Gilchrist b Gillespie 49 M. Dillon c Waugh b Gillespie 9 M. Samuels lbw b Miller 35 R. Jacobs c Langer b Miller 21 N. McLean lbw b Miller 0 M. Black not out 1 C. Walsh lbw b Miller 0 Extras: (b-8 nb-6 lb-12) 26 Total: (128.5 overs) 391 Fall of wickets: 1-45 2-52 3-86 4-269 5-280 6-354 7-376 8-382 9-391 10-391. Bowling: McGrath 36-14-83-0 (nb-3), Gillespie 32-9-89-5 (nb-2), Miller 35.5-11-81-5 (nb-1), MacGill 24-5-118-0, Ponting 1-1-0-0. Australia (first innings): M. Slater c sub (Sarwan) b Samuels 83 M. Hayden run out 58 J. Langer c Lara b Samuels 6 M. Waugh not out 10 J. Gillespie not out 2 Extras: (w-2 nb-8 lb-9 b-2) 21 Total: (for three wickets, 49 overs) 180 Fall of wickets: 1-156 2-160 3-169. Bowling: Walsh 13-1-36-0 (nb-5), Black 10-1-39-0 (nb-3), Dillon 6-0-33-0 (w-2), McLean 7-0-23-0, Adams 2-0-13-0, Samuels 11-3-25-2. |
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Rhodes, Kirsten fashion SA win PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa), Dec 16 (AP) — ‘Man of the match’ Jonty Rhodes hit an unbeaten 61 and Gary Kirsten 58 as South Africa beat Sri Lanka by four wickets with 16 balls to spare in the first one-day international in Port Elizabeth. Sri Lanka — batting first after winning the toss — were bowled out for 221 yesterday in an unconvincing knock saved only by Kumar Sangakkara (84) and Romesh Kaluwitharana (55). Although the home team also lost wickets at regular intervals, they always kept in front of the required run rate. Not even demon off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan could put them off their stride — in spite of taking the key wicket of Kirsten — with 1-39 from his 10 overs. Seamer Nuwan Zoysa picked up the scalps of opener Andrew Hall (18) and Jacques Kallis (0), but it was the hot-blooded run-outs of Nicky Boje (6) and Mark Boucher (9) that had South African pulses racing. Boje hesitated before dashing to the non-striker’s end and getting out, in between the dismissals of Hall and Kallis to form part of a mini-collapse of 3-8. Boucher darted out his crease and then turned around, but he was unable to beat the direct shy of Russel Arnold. Rhodes and Lance Klusener (39 not out), finished off the chase with 80 runs from 94 balls. The ease of South Africa’s win was underlined when Rhodes hit Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya for four in the 40th over — SA’s first boundary in almost 20 overs. Kirsten dominated from the start to post his 36th ODI half-century from just 58 balls (6x4). His 58 runs came from seven deliveries. Rhodes, who needed 69 balls for his 50, hit only three boundaries in his innings of 2 hours and 3 minutes. Klusener hammered four fours during his stay of just more than one hour. Sri Lankan opener Romesh Kaluwitharana hit 55 up front to hold the visitors’ together early on, when they lost wickets regularly. South Africa captain Shaun Pollock bagged 4-36 and Klusener was miserly with 1-26 from his 10 overs. Jayasuriya, known for his blistering attacks on bowlers smashing them over the inner circle in the first 15 overs, dragged Pollock on to his stumps with only 3 to his name. SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya b Pollock 3 Kaluwitharana b Kallis 55 Atapattu c and b Telemachus 2 Jayawardene c Boucher b Ntini 13 Sangakkara b Pollock 84 Arnold c Boucher b Klusener 5 Dilshan run out 18 (Kallis/Rhodes-Boucher) Chaminda Vaas b Pollock 18 Zoysa c Pollock b Kallis 1 Muralitharan not out 2 Wickramasinghe b Pollock 1 Extras: (5lb 7nb 7w) 19 Total: (all out) 221 - 49.5 overs Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-21, 3-63, 4-91, 5-112, 6-159, 7-211, 8-214, 9-219. Bowling: Pollock 9.5-1-36-4 (3nb), Telemachus 10-1-46-1 (4nb 3w), Kallis 9-1-34-2 (1w), Ntini 5-0-44-1 (2w), Klusener 10-0-26-1, Boje 6-0-30-0 (1w). South Africa: Kirsten st Kaluwitharana 58 b Muralitharan Hall c Kaluwitharana b Zoysa 18 Boje run out (Jayawardene) 6 Kallis c and b Zoysa 0 Dippenaar c Kaluwitharana 19 b Vaas Jonty Rhodes not out 61 Mark Boucher run out (Arnold) 9 Lance Klusener not out 39 Extras: (8lb 2nb 3w) 13 Total: (for 6 wickets) 223 - 47.2 overs. Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-56, 3-57, 4-91, 5-126, 6-143. Bowling: Vaas 9-1-50-1 (2nb), Zoysa 9-0-35-2 (1w), Wickramasinghe 7.2-0-44-0 (1w), Muralitharan 10-1-39-1, Jayasuriya 7-0-31-0, Arnold 5-1-16-0 (1w). Ajay Jadeja may go to court NEW DELHI, Dec 16 (PTI) — Ajay Jadeja, who has been banned from playing cricket for five years, has said he will approach the court in case his appeal to the Cricket Board is rejected. “The day my appeal is turned down, I will definitely go to court and fight my case,” Jadeja told Rajat Sharma’s “Janta ki Adalat” programme to be telecast on Star TV tomorrow. The Cricket Board, while handing out life ban to Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma and five-year bans on Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar, had allowed them to appeal before it against their punishment. According a press note issued by the channel, Jadeja said the CBI had not registered any case in court. “If they had done so, we would have got an opportunity to defend. It went to the Board, who have made a code of conduct of their own and now they have announced a punishment and have given us a final chance to appeal,” he said. On the charges that he used political connections, he said he was punished only because “media highlighted my political connections.” Jadeja claimed that Azharuddin told him during the Board’s disciplinary committee’s hearings that he had never said before the CBI that he (Jadeja) and Nayan Mongia had helped him fix matches.
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Unbeaten 94 by
Ravneet Ricky NEW DELHI, Dec 16 (UNI) — Opener Ravneet Singh’s unbeaten 94 and his 145-run second wicket stand with Amit Behl (85) powered Punjab to 211 for two in reply to Delhi’s 336 on the second day of the Under 22 North Zone Cricket Tournament here today. Resuming at their overnight score of 292 for 4, Delhi could add only 44 runs to their total losing six wickets. Overnight batsman Varun Kumar failed to add any run to his total of 147 while other batsman Sonu Vaid scored only one before getting out. Babloo Kumar (4 for 80), Sarandeep Singh (3 for 66) were the main wicket takers for Punjab. Punjab began their reply on a disasterous note losing opener Vivek Mahajan when the score was only 13 runs. Mahajan made only 5. However a solid 145-run second wicket stand between Ricky and Amit Behl took Punjab’s score to 158 before Behl was trapped leg before by medium pacer Amit Suman. Brief scores: Delhi 336 all out in 123.1 overs (Varun Kumar147, Sonu Vaid 58, Rohit Verma, not out,10, Raja Sharma 12, Babloo Kumar 4 for 80, Sarandeep Singh 3 for 66). Punjab 211 for 2 in 59 overs (Vivek Mahajan 5, Ravneet Ricky batting 94, Amit Behl 85, Ankur Kakkar batting 24, Amit Suman 1 for 53, Raja Sharma 1 for 27). CHENNAI, Dec 16 (PTI) — A fine 108 by Sunetra and a four wicket haul by Bharti helped Mumbai defeat Delhi by 49 runs and storm into the semifinals of the All-India Women’s Inter-University Cricket Championship here today. In the semifinal, Mumbai will meet Guru Nanak Dev University, who scored a thumping nine-wicket win over Jiwaji in another quarterfinal. The other semifinal will be between Pune, who defeated Barkatulla, Bhopal, by seven wickets, and Devi Ahilya, who thrashed Nagpur by 167 runs. Brief Scores: (all quarterfinals): Mumbai University: 254 for 5 in 50 overs (Sunetra 108, Arptia Patel 61; Shivani Gupta 2/36) beat Delhi University 205 all out in 46 overs (Reema 47, Suiatha 52, Vandhana 25; Bharti 4/21, Pooja 2/38, Bhava 2/33). Devi Ahilya,
Inodre: 231 for 9 in 50 overs (Ketaki Puntambekar 95 n.o. Sapana Agarwal 41; Nilima Waghmere 2/37, Rani Chauhan 2/46) bt Nagpur 64 all out in 18.3 overs (Babita Mandlik 7/23 in 9 overs). Barkatullah, Bhopal:
47 all out in 28.4 overs (Sarika 13; Devika 3/9, Sadhana 3/4, Sonia 2/12) lost to Pune 48 for three in 16/3 overs (Snehal Belsar 20 n.o. Poorva Joshi 9 n.o.). Jiwaji:
71 all out in 36.4 overs (Mumta Dogra 18, Shoba Kalika 13; Aniumann Bassi 3/9, Parvesh 3/9) lost to Guru Nanak Dev 73 for 1 in 23.2 overs (Raiwinder 30, Asha 11).
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Cooch Behar Under-19
final PUNE, Dec 16 (UNI) — Haryana claimed their maiden Cooch Behar Under-19 Cricket title by virtue of their massive first innings lead over Madhya Pradesh as their four-day final petered out into a tame draw here today. The final days proceedings, however, was marred by counter protest lodged by the rival team managers Nitin Kulkarni and Ramesh Sikka for playing overaged players. The Madhya Pradesh manager Kulkrani in a written protest to the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) joint honorary secretary Anant Mate, stated that the rival team had six overaged players. The Haryana manager Mr Sikka also reacted and lodged a written protest stating the opponents also had five overaged players. Mr Mate today said that he had received the counter protest from the rival team managers last evening and as such the players mentioned will have to undergo a medical test to verify and ascertain their ages. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) has already at its annual general body meeting made it clear that in case of any protest regarding the overage players the hosts association has all the right to ask the mentioned players to take the medical test. Hence, the medical test was conducted on the listed players at the KEM hospital this morning. Mr Mate said and added that the medical report which will be made available only in the evening and the same would be sent to the BCCI. As many as six players from Haryana, namely skipper Ajay Ratra, Manivinder Bisla, Deepak Joone, Joginder Sharma, Amit Mishra and Sukhbir Singh, while five players from Madhya Pradesh — skipper Sachin Dholepure, Mohnish Mishra, Maninder Singh, Jitendra Likhar, and Omprakash Yadav had to take the medical tests. The X rays of their wrist, elbow and hip bones were taken to ascertain their ages. Earlier, Bengal has also lodged a protest against defending champions Punjab for having overage players in their ranks. With Haryana deciding not to enforce the follow on despite their massive 266-run first innings lead there was only academic interest left in the match. Over and above the overage problem reduced the last days proccedings to nothing short of a farce. The match was called off after Haryana scored 321 for 7 two minutes after the tea break today. Resuming at the overnight score of 167 for one Haryana added 154 runs today losing seven wickets in the bargain. The overnight unbeaten pair of Bisla (96) and Sumit Sharma (51) went on to complete their centuries. Bisla’s knock of 102 came in a stay of 167 minute after facing 144 balls and contained 10 hits to the ropes and two towering sixes. Sharma also compiled his knock of 118 from 166 balls in 226 minutes and slammed 19 fours. Bisla and Sharma added 141 runs for the second wicket in 189 balls and 113 minutes. Brief scores: Haryana 461 and 321 for 7 in 103.2 overs 422 minutes (M. Bisla 102, S. Sharma 118, D. Joone 36, G. Vashist 21, A. Patidar 2/89, Mukesh Panhjwani 3/25) drew with Madhya Pradesh 197 in 75.2 overs. BANGALORE, Dec 16 (UNI) —The awesome Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi thundered their way into the final of the Gold Flake ATP Tour World Doubles Tennis Championship, defeating top seeds Rick Leach (USA) and Ellis Ferreira (South Africa) in straight sets here today. Entering their third world doubles final, Bhupathi and Paes won 6-3, 7-5 to set up a clash with Don Johnson (USA) and Piet Norval (South Africa) in the final tomorrow. Johnson and Norval earlier arrested the winning streak of late entrants Simon Aspelin and Johan Landsberg of Sweden 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. Both Bhupathi and Paes who had only one title victory (Tokyo Open) in their six tournaments this year, fully encashed on the errors their rivals repeatedly committed as they came out with a splendid performance. The Indian pair took the first set easily in just 32 minutes breaking Leach’s serve in the third game for a 2-1 lead and made good of the three double faults Ferreira committed in the ninth game to win the first set 6-3. They continued their brilliant display when they broke Ferreira’s service again in the second game in the second set for a 2-0 lead. But Leach and Ferreira broke back Paes service in the seventh game with Indians leading 4-3 and Leach held his next service game to level the score. The 12th game saw Leach serving his last time in the career. It was perhaps the longest game of the match that spilled into deuce thrice and saw a lot of action before the Indian pair broke it and took the set and the match at 7-5. So error prone was Ferreira that he had made in all eight double faults in the match as against two by Leach. For the Indians the only double fault was committed by Bhupathi in the fifth game of second set. American Donald Johnson and Piet Norval of South Africa made their maiden entry into the final. In the first set, Johnson and Norval played a loose game and the latter was broken in the third game. But they made amends for earlier lapses and started serving well, scoring points with decisive counter-attacks. Having won three finals in five appearances during the season, they showed good understanding to wrap up the first set. Landsberg was broken in the sixth and 10th games. The Swedes won the first three games in the second set and then were totally at the receiving end. Both Johnson and Norval took three games in a row and went on to lead 4-3. Though Aspelin remained unbroken in the two sets, Landsberg dropped serve in the eighth. But the Swedes, having a 20-19 win-loss record this year and 21-22 in their career as partners, fought back well when it mattered and clinched the second set with two service (Johnson) breaks. |
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Dasmunshi re-elected AIFF
president NEW DELHI, Dec 16 — Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi was re-elected president of the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) for a record fourth term when he defeated Punjab Football Association president Samir Thapar by 23 votes to 10 in a keenly-contested election at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium amidst palpabale tension and high drama here today. Mr Dasmunshi had first become the AIFF president in 1988. Mr Alberto Colaco of Goa defeated Kedar Nath Mour by 19 votes to 14 to unseat the latter the from the post of secretary while incumbent treasurer
A.R. Khaleel of Karnataka pipped Ranjit Gupta of Bengal by 19-13 votes to renew the lease on his job for another four years. The Himachal Pradesh representative was not present when voting was held for the treasurer’s post. After the elections for the top three posts, the house authorised Mr Dasmunshi to nominate the five vice-presidents and five executive committee members. But as a goodwill gesture, Mr Dasmunshi appointed Mr P.P. Laxman of Kerala as executive president “to share some of my burden” as Laxman had pulled out of the fray to pave the way for Colaco’s election as secretary, while former AIFF president Ashok Ghosh was appointed chairman of the Afro-Asian Games Committee and the Pre-Olympic Tournament preparatory committee. Vice-presidents: Praful Patel,
M.P. (Gujarat), Auto Megher (North-East), C.R. Vishwanathan (Tamil Nadu), Vijaya Mallaya
(Pondicherry) and Riazuddin (UP). Executive Committee: H. Jadeja (Gujarat), B. Duegdo
(Meghalaya), S.S. Hooda (Rajasthan), Ijaz Hussain (Railways) and M.A. Khan (J and K). Mr S.R. Deb of Madhya Pradesh has been retained as chairman of the Referees’ Board. The AIFF president also designated Mr Praful Patel as the senior vice-president as he is the only one to have secured a second term in the post. New secretary Alberto Colaco will also continue as chairman of the National Football League till alternate arrangments are made. After his election, Mr Dasmunshi announced that the AIFF secretariat will be shifted to Delhi, which will have a few full-time paid executives, including an executive secretary, to manage the affairs of the federation in a professional manner. An auditor has also been appointed to keep the accounts above board. Mr Dasmunshi played his political cards astutely to outwit Mr Samir Thapar rather convincingly as the latter found to his dismay, at the hour of reckoning, that his support base had eroded considerably. But after his defeat, Mr Thapar was gracious enough to let Mr Dashmunshi have the team of his choice, but Mr Mour would have none of it as he wanted voting for the post of secretary too. Despite the efforts of Mr Vijaya Mallaya and Mr Thapar, Mr Mour did not relent and it was decided to hold election for the post of secretary. But then another problem cropped up as Mr P.P. Laxman and Mr Alberto Colaco entered the fray from Mr Dasmunshi’s group. But Mr Laxman dropped out when Mr Colaco stayed put in his decision to contest. Which he did, and won too, but with a reduced margin from that of
Dasmunshi’s. Mr Ranjit Gupta too wanted election for the post of treasurer, but could not upstage
Khaleel. Before the elections, the house passed a resolution, making associate members Chandigarh and Daman and Diu as full members with voting rights. Thus the strength of the AIFF units went up from 31 to 33. Mr Dasmunshi later said fledgling states of the Indian Union—Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh — would also be made members of the AIFF family. Samir Thapar said he was “disappointed” at the
outcome," but then somebody has to win and somebody has to lose and I extend my full support to Mr Dasmunshi”. Mr Dasmunshi said he held no ill-will or malaise against anyone and “Samir Thapar is like an younger brother to me”. He said “we have upheld FIFA’s fair play and I promise you to make the AIFF the best federation and provide the best team”. The re-election of Mr Dasmunshi had become a foregone conclusion when he managed to gather the support of fence sitters like Delhi, Railways, Services and Rajasthan by using his political clout. Mr Dasmunshi also took the decision to as to whom to be allowed to vote when some of the state units sent more than one representative to the meeting, which Mr Thapar felt was unfair, as the Mr Dasmunshi himself was a candidate for the presidentship. But Mr Dasmunshi justified his decision as he felt as president of the AIFF, he had the right to take decisions on such matters. However, Indian Premier Football Association
(IPFA) president Vijaya Mallaya, who was rooting for the candidature of Samir Thapar, observed that “it was all done in a democratic process”.
“AIFF is a united family now”, concluded a beaming Dasmunshi. |
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Indian eves
come a cropper NEW DELHI, Dec 16 (PTI) — Indian girls came a cropper against North Korea losing 67-109 in the first match of the Asian Junior Women Basketball Championship which started here today at Talkatora Indoor Stadium. In the second match of the championship, South Korea mauled Hong Kong 117-43 with Bang Ji Yun scoring 20 points, Kim Eun Hye 18 and Park Eun Jin 15. Lagging way behind the visitors in terms of agility, stamina and strategy, Indian girls simply couldn’t rise to the occasion as they struggled from the start to counter North Korean blitzkreig that put them 10-0 down in the opening four minutes of the game. Led by K.
Rajalakshmi, who was played for only 10 minutes in whole match, Indian girls could never recover from the initial blows as North Korean girls played excellently to a well-coordinated strategy taking the first half 44-23. India’s pivot Sofi Sam disappointed in the first half but played better in the second half scoring nine two-pointer field goals and seven free throws finishing with highest 25 points. Poonam scored three-pointer field goals thrice finishing with 14 points while Anju Lakra scored seven points. |
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FC Kochin down Salgaocar MARGAO, Dec 16 (UNI) — A second half injury minute goal by defender Jo Paul Anchery enabled FC Kochin to begin their campaign with 3-2 win over Pondicherry Millennium Cup winners Salgoacar Sports Club (Goa) and gain full three points in the National Football League here today. Liberian recruit Sunday Seah in the 53rd minute, I M Vijayan in 81st minute and Jo Paul Anchery in the 90th minute scored for FC Kochin while Dennis Cabral in 45th minute and Climax Lorence in the 82nd minute scored for Salgoacar. FC Kochin coach Sridharan changed the strategy replacing goalkeeper Sunday Seah with defender Dinesh Nair with Sunday taking over as striker. Trailing by a goal in the first half Sunday restored the parity in the 53rd minute when IM Vijayam’s free kick shot slipped from the hands of Salgoacar goalkeeper, Sunday who pounced upon the opportunity and placed the ball in the net 1-1. Inspired by the equaliser, Kochin played vigorously and consolidated their lead in the 81st minute through IM Vijayan, whose carpet drive shot found the net off a pass from Sunday 2-1. A minute later Salgoacar’s Climax Lorence level led the score 2-2 off a penalty award. Salgoacar were awarded a spot kick when Kochin’s goalkeeper Dinesh Nair brought down Denis Cabral inside the
penalty area. Climax made no mistake to convert it into goal 2-2.
FC Kochin defender Jo Paul Anchery scored the winning goal during injury time also off a penalty award. The referee awarded the spot kick to Kochin when their hardworking liberain Sunday was toppled down by Seby Coelho Jo Paul Anchery took the spot kick correctly to give FC
Kochin. Ronaldo can resume
training in Jan PARIS, Dec 16 (DPA) — Brazilian star striker Ronaldo can resume training in January, said Professor Gerard Saillant, head of the orthopedic-accident department of Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital here today. “His knee is okay,” Dr Saillant said. “There exists absolutely no doubt about his return to competition.”
Mr Saillant operated on Ronaldo’s right knee on April 13, a day after the Inter Milan forward tore a tendon only six minutes into the final of the Italian Cup against Lazio Rome. |
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Malkit outboxes
Vicky PATIALA, Dec 16 — Finalists in all the 12 weight categories were spotted in the 47th Senior Punjab State Boxing Championships being held at the Polo Grounds gymnasium here today. After two days of lop-sided contests, the championships sprung to life today with some enthralling and evenly matched bouts much to the delight of hundreds of spectators. The most exciting bout of the day was the semi-final in the lightweight category between the redoubtable Malkit Singh and yesterday’s hero Vicky Singh. After a round of “sparring”, Malkit Singh showed slick technique and managed to enlarge the leeway using the left hook to devastating effect. Vicky Singh suddenly went on the defensive and repeatedly lowered his guard. This made the nimble footed and fast moving Malkit Singh all the more aggressive even as he landed some power packed punches to leave his rival gasping for breath. The bout was decided on points and the score-line 17-16 in favour of Malkit Singh is enough indication of how closely faught the bout was. Other Results (All semi-finals):
Light flyweight: Nitin Kumar beat Malkiat Singh 16-7. Harpreet Singh beat Ravinder Kumar 15-2. Flyweight:
Anil Pathania beat Amarjit Singh 7-4. Amarinder Singh beat Navpreet Singh 12-4. Bantamweight: Tara Singh beat Aman Singh 14-6. Harvinder Singh beat Sanjeev Singh 13-11.
Feather weight: Inderjit Singh beat Vinod Kumar 4-1. Rakesh Kumar beat Satnam Singh 14-5.
Lightweight: Malkit Singh beat Vicky Singh 17-16. Light welterweight:
Tejkaran Sharma beat Sanjay Kumar 11-4. Vikramjit Brar beat Sukhjinder Singh 13-3.
Welterweight: Jagdeep Singh beat Birinder Singh 7-5. Paramdeep Singh beat Rajbeer Singh 12-5.
Light heavyweight: Gursharan Singh beat Amaninder Singh 14-1. Super heavyweight:
Bhagwant Singh beat Gurinder Singh (Retd). Sukhdev Singh beat Gurpreet Singh
(K.O).
Computerised scoring
introduced PATIALA, Dec 16 — At the 47th Senior Punjab State Boxing Championships being played here high-tech computer scoring system and dope testing has been introduced for the first time in a state championship. Though dope testing and computer scoring may not exactly be novelties, their introduction here has given a filip to the championships. To remove allegations of favouritism which fly thick and fast, particularly after on the bouts decided on points, the organisers have placed a number of computers, complete with printers, alongside the two rings — one indoor and the other outdoors — being used for the competition at the Polo Ground Gymnasium. Though computer scoring in boxing has been introduced at national-level competitions since the past two years, it is for the first time that such a sophisticated yet a highly complicated scoring system has been put in place in a state championships. Meanwhile, the organisers have put in a request to the Sports Authority of India Executive Director (Teams) Maj O.P. Bhatia to send a team of doctors from the New Delhi-based SAI laboratory to dope test the competitors. The urine samples of the winners in all the 12 weight categories will be sent to New Delhi for testing. Though the SAI laboratory has no legal sanctity as it is not accredited by the IOC, the organisers are confident that the fear of dope testing among the pugilists will act as a deterrant for the participants. With boxing being a sport fraught with danger, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has placed two ambulances and a team of highly qualified doctors at the disposal of the organisers. This year not only has the number of competitors increased as compared to previous editions, the spectators response also has been positive with the locals coming in droves to watch the action. The organisers put this down to Gurcharan Singh’s performance in the Sydney Olympics. Not surprisingly, the maximum number of competitors participating here are from the Malwa region, which has retained its identity as being the boxing powerhouse of Punjab. Gurcharan Singh, who also hails from Malwa belt, narrowly missed entering the medal round, going down fighting to his Uzbekistani rival on points. |
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Anuradha clinches
chess title MUMBAI, Dec 16 (UNI) — Second seeded Deepan Chakravarthy of Tamil Nadu and fourth seeded Anuradha B of Haryana bagged the IPCL national sub-junior (under-15) chess championships for boys and girls, respectively, with an identical score of 7.5 at the end of ninth and last round played at the Andheri Sports Complex here today.
The boys’ runner-up position was secured by fifth seeded Saptarshi Roy (GNCA) with an equal score of 7.5 points as of winner Deepan, but because of lesser progressive score he (Saptarshi) had to be content with second spot.
While in the girls, it went to a local star, Eesha Karwade of Maharashtra with a score of seven points. In both these categories, champions and runners-up will represent the country at Asian and World sub-junior championships.
KOCHI, Dec 16 (PTI) — Miss Bentla D’Couth of Ernakulam and two other men referees have been chosen for the FIFA referees’ panel for 2001 from Kerala, according to Mr G. Sugunan, secretary, Kerala Football Association (KFA).
Bentla, who had represented India in several international football matches becomes the first international woman football referee from India. Ritwik, Joshna
champions CHENNAI, Dec 16 (PTI) — Ritwik Bhattacharya (Del) and Joshna Chinappa of Tamil Nadu won the men’s and women’s titles respectively in the Senior National Squash Championship here today. In an epic 54-minute final, Bhattacharya outlasted reigning champion and top seed Manish Chotrani of Maharashtra 6-9, 9-0, 9-0 9-6. In the women’s, 14-year-old Joshna Chinappa quelled statemate and second seed Vaidehi Reddy 5-9, 9-2, 9-0, 9-5. |
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