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| Monday,
January 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Favourites
Sampras, Safin Anand,
Kramnik settle for draw Lehmann
fashions Aussie win |
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Sri Lanka forced
to follow on Japan
sail into semifinals India
top pool with facile win Indian
colts face uphill task Mumbai,
Kolkata and Chennai to host Tests West
Zone manage a draw Amanjot
wins ITF title in Colombo Jeev
improves to be joint 10th Asia
Cup deferred by one year
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Favourites Sampras, Safin knocked out MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (AFP, Reuters) —It
was bloody Sunday at the Australian Open as two of the pre-tournament
favourites, Pete Sampras and Marat Safin, were sent home early in
major fourth round upsets. Sampras, bidding to extend his record-breaking haul of 13 Grand Slam titles, looked on track when he edged a first set tie-break against compatriot Todd Martin. But
from then on, Martin’s serve and return were irresistible as he
completed a 6-7(2/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win that was only his third in 20
matches against Sampras. Safin’s
conqueror, Dominik Hrbaty, will meet Australia’s Pat Rafter in the
other quarterfinal in the top half of the draw. Despite the defeat and a growing sense that his best days are behind him, Sampras insisted retirement was not an issue. Australia’s Pat Rafter rips his shirt off as he celebrates his fourth round win over Great Britain’s Tim Henman at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Sunday.
— Reuters photo “I
feel like I can still win majors and I want to win a few more before I
am done,” he said. “I’m disappointed not to have done it here
but I’ve got many years and many Slams ahead of me.” Agassi
tamed showman Ilie in four sets to book his place in the last eight. Safin, the second seed and current US Open champion, continued a poor run in Australia when he succumbed 2-6, 6-7, 4-6 to 14th seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia. “That’s
ridiculous today, what I made on court. It was a little bit of a
disaster,” said Safin, who was beaten in the first round last year. Eighth
seed Henman was similarly disappointed after he was soundly beaten
2-6, 3-6, 3-6 by last year’s Wimbledon runner-up Pat Rafter, ending
slim hopes of an all-British final with Greg Rusedksi still to play
his fourth round match. “I certainly give Pat a lot of credit for
the way he played, but overall I think I handled the situation pretty
poorly,” a disappointed Henman told reporters. Andre Agassi and
Lindsay Davenport, the defending men’s and women’s champions, had
no such regrets after stifling challenges from outclassed opponents. Sixth seed Agassi beat Australian showman Andrew Ilie 6-7, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. Davenport sailed into the quartersfinals when she downed an error-prone 15th seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium 6-4, 6-0. Safin’s
defeat means the season-opening Grand Slam has now lost its two top
seeds after Rusedksi beat world No 1 Gustavo Kuerten in the second
round. Hrbaty, a 1999 French Open semifinalist, had never made it past the first round the previous three years in Melbourne but reached the quarterfinals after downing Safin in just over two hours. The Slovak sizzled from the start, hammering away from the baseline and serving flawlessly. ‘I
just played well today. I felt the ball great. I was playing a little
bit faster than Marat today,” he said. “I didn’t give him a
chance to hit winners on my serve,” said Hrbaty, who won a warm-up
event in Auckland. He will now meet local favourite Rafter in the quarterfinals after the Australian whipped British No 1 Henman in another lopsided match. The
two-times US Open champion mixed delicate chip shots with powerful
groundstrokes to confound Henman, who seemed powerless to counter the
Australian’s variety. Henman stayed with his opponent for much of
the first set but Rafter raced away in the second and third sets,
breaking his opponent’s serve twice in each. The Briton then meekly-double faulted on the final point to hand Rafter the match. “My
performance was certainly nothing to shout about,” Henman said. “In
big match conditions...I was lacking.’’ Rafter is determined to
make a good showing in what could be his last Grand Slam appearance
before a home crowd. “I really wanted to prove something at the
Australian Open,” said Rafter, who has announced he is considering
retiring at the end of this year. Agassi made it through to the quarterfinals after outlasting the unseeded Ilie, whose repertoire of improvised shots began to desert him after an eye-catching opening set. He will now veteran Todd Martin. Davenport
will meet eighth seed Anna Kournikova, who beat Germany’s Barbara
Rittner 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament
for only the second time in 16 attempts. Kournikova is still seeking her first career singles title and is in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since 1997, when she reached the semifinals at Wimbledon as a 16-year-old. Kournikova
almost didn’t make it to the 1997 Wimbledon semifinal when Rittner
was again her opponent in the second round. The German held two match
points at 5-1 and 40-15 in the second set before Kournikova fought
back to inflict a painful defeat. Davenport was untroubled against a flat Clijsters, who has rocketed into the top 20 and pushed Davenport to three sets at the US Open and in the Fed Cup last year. Four-time champion Monica Seles found herself in a three-set dogfight and had to claw back from the brink twice against rising teen star Justine Henin. The 27-year-old American maintained her record of only losing once in 37 matches here and will meet old rival Capriati for a semifinal place. Seles pulled back from one set down and 2-4 in the second and third sets against the spirited Henin, drawing on her experience to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Seles
has been at the business end of a Grand Slam many times before. So has
Capriati. But other than her semifinal appearance here last year, she
hasn’t made the last eight since her golden years in the early
1990s. In that period, Capriati, who downed Spain’s Marta Marrero
7-5, 6-1 was a quarterfinalist nine times before she spiralled out of
control, caught up in minor shoplifting and drugs scandals. Yesterday
Spain’s Carlos Moya ended Lleyton Hewitt’s Australian Open with an
epic five-set victory to reach the fourth round. The former finalist and 42-ranked Moya slugged it out with the Australian seventh seed in a gripping three hours 48 minutes before overcoming 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the last 16 where he will play German Rainer Schuettler. In
an unforgettable match, Moya played some of his finest tennis to snuff
out the determined Australian 19-year-old who had to give everything
he had to keep alive in his own national championship. |
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Anand, Kramnik settle for draw WIJK ANN ZEE (The Netherlands), Jan 21 (PTI) — World
champion grandmaster Viswanathan Anand drew an interesting battle with
BrainGames champion GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia while Spaniard
Alexei Shirov consolidated his lead, disposing of GM Loek Van Wely of
the Netherlands in the sixth round of the Corus Grandmaster Group ‘A’
Chess tournament here. Shirov with his power packed performance
leads the 14 player-13 rounds field with 5 points and is followed by
the Russian trio of former world champion and highest-rated player in
the world — GM Gary Kasparov, Kramnik and GM Alexander Morozevich. The
Anand-Kramnik face-off was the pair’s first after each won his title
late last year. Playing black, Anand (3.5 points) employed the
Nimzo Indian defence, which surprised many in view of Kasparov’s
demolition in the same opening by Kramnik during the BrainGames
championship last year. The classical moves were followed in a blitz and staidness shown by Anand was exemplary as he uncorked a serious of excellent defensive manoeuvres to get a dynamically balanced middlegame. Kramnik went for a kingside attack amidst complications on the queenside and was
reeling under pressure as Anand collected his queenside pawns to get connected passers. On
move 19, Anand’s second GM Elizbar Ubilava expressed concern over
Anand’s position but by move 33, experts were liking the Indian GM’s
position. The see-saw game, however, had an abrupt end when it was agreed drawn after the 35th move. Anand
obviously did not want to risk against Kramnik’s attacking
abilities, while Kramnik was worried about the steady progress of
black’s pawn. Grandmaster Alexander Morozevich played for a draw
and got it. Playing white, the young Russian was naturally intimidated
by Kasparov’s skills and chose the Rossolimo attack to get the
desired result in just 15 moves when an absolutely level position
arose on the board. Kasparov was disappointed with white’s
purposeless play and called Morozevich’s equaliser “the move of
the Pepsi generation !” Shirov was in his element once GM Loek Van
Wely of the Netherlands went for unwarranted complications without
worrying about the safety of his king. The opening was the French defence where Shirov, white, surprised his opponent by opting to castle on the flank where black was attacking. A temporary piece sacrifice by Van Wely netted him centre control but at the same time delayed the development of his pieces. Shirov posted his rook in the open queen-bishop file and soon promoted his queen-knight pawn to create inevitable threats. Van Wely was forced to part with two minor pieces for a rook and in the end a knight fork drew curtains. The game lasted mere 28 moves. Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine scored his first victory in the tournament in the only other decisive encounter of the day, defeating GM Alexei Federov of Belarus. Federov
will have to look out for better opening repertoire if he has to make
his presence felt here. By sticking to his usual king’s gambit,
Federov paved way for novelty on the seventh move and Ivanchuk never
lost control of the game thereafter. With king in the centre,
Federov’s attempts on the kingside were thwarted with ease and
Ivanchuk ripped open the centre to launch an attack against the king.
Federov resigned on the 36th move. GM Jan Timman of the Netherlands was successfully rewarded for his new idea in the English opening with black pieces when his compatriot, GM Jeroen Piket decided to go for repetition of moves and draw the game. GM
Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria drew with GM Sergei Tiviakov of the
Netherlands in a queen’s Indian defence game with white pieces. Inappropriate
management of piece deployment witnessed white’s slight advantage
gradually slipping out and the piece treaty was signed in 26 moves. GM Peter Leko of Hungary drew with English GM Michael Adams after a theoretical discussion in the Marshall gambit. Playing
white, Leko did not try to refute black’s new idea on the 20th move
and the position simplified soon with draw called on 27th move. Standings after round 6: 1: A Shirov (Spain) 5 points; 2-4: G. Kasparov, Kramnik, A. Morozevich (all Russia) 4 points; 5-7: V. Anand (India), M. Adams (England), V. Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 3.5 points; 8: J. Timman (Netherlands) 3 points; 9-10: V. Topalov (Bulgaria), Peter Leko (Hungary) 2.5 points; 11-12: L. Van Wely, J. Piket (both Netherlands) 2 points; 13: A. Federov (Belarus); 14: S. Tiviakov (Netherlands) 1 point. |
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Lehmann fashions Aussie win MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) —
Darren Lehmann made 92 not out as Australia hammered Zimbabwe by eight
wickets in their limited overs international here today. Australia made 226 for two off 36.5 overs after Zimbabwe won the toss and batted first, scoring 223 for nine in their 50 overs. Australian captain Adam Gilchrist smashed 39 off 29 balls in an opening stand of 54 with Lehmann before Gilchrist was caught at point in the eighth over by Brian Murphy off the bowling of Travis Friend. The left-handed lehmann, Man of the Match, faced 104 balls and hit nine fours while Ricky Ponting made a dashing 68 off 73 balls with seven fours, sharing a second-wicket partnership of 144 in 150 balls with Lehmann. Ponting was run out by a whisker in the 33rd over, giving him an aggregate of 244 runs at 81.33 in the series so far. Earlier, Zimbabwe had won the toss and batted. The top six batsmen all got starts but the only significant score came from Grant Flower at number five who made 51 off 78 balls. Zimbabwe’s
top batsman Andy Flower was out caught off a reverse sweep for 23 at
117 for four in the 31st over. Medium-pacer Ian Harvey (4-28) and keg-spinner Shane Warne (2-21) put the brakes on Zimbabwe who had started brightly with 50 runs without loss in the first eight overs. Australia lead the triangular series with four wins from four matches while Zimbabwe are on the bottom with two losses from two outings. West Indies have won one from four. SCOREBOARD Zimbabwe: Campbell c Bevan b Harvey 30 G. Whittall c Gilchrist b Harvey 25 Carlisle c Harvey b Warne 12 A.
Flower c Lehmann G. Flower c & b Warne 51 G.
Rennie st Gilchrist Viljoen c & b Lehmann 7 Streak c Lehmann b Harvey 23 Nkala b Harvey 16 Friend not out 0 Extras:
(lb-7 w-9 nb-7) 23 Total: (nine wickets, 50 overs) 223 Fall of
wickets: 1-50 2-67 3-78 4-117 5-145 6-160 7-187 8-219 9-223 Bowling:
Lee 8-0-70-0 (w-7, nb-7), Bracken 6-0-23-0, Harvey 9-0-28-4, Warne 10-2-21-2,
Symonds 10-2-38-2 (w-2), Lehmann 7-0-36-1 Australia: Lehmann not out 92 Gilchrist c Murphy b Friend 39 Ponting run out 68 Bevan not out 14 Extras:
(b-1 lb-5 w-6 nb-1) 13 Total: (for two wickets, 36.5 overs) 226 Fall
of wickets: 1-54 2-198 Bowling: Streak 5-1-37-0 Friend 6.5-0-52-1
(w-5, nb-1) Murphy 10-0-47-0 (w-1) Nkala 7-0-30-0 Viljoen 6-0-37-0 Whittall
2-0-17-0. |
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Sri Lanka forced to follow on CENTURION, South Africa, Jan 21 (Reuters) — Sri Lanka slumped to 119 all out midway through the afternoon session on the second day of the third Test against South Africa today. The tourists, trailing by 259 on first innings after South Africa were bowled out for 378, were obliged to follow on and in the fifth over were nine for one. Scoreboard South Africa (Ist innings) Dippenaar c Kalu b Perera 20 Gibbs c Kalu b Zoysa 1 Kallis c Arnold b Fernando 7 Cullinan c Kalu b
Wickramasinghe 48 Mckenzie c Boucher c Kalu b Zoysa 38 Boje c Jayasuriya b Arnold 6 Kemp run out 2 Pollock c Sangakkara b Zoysa 111 Donald not out 10 Ntini c Kalu b Extras: (b-4 lb-2 w-1 nb-15): 22 Total: 378 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-31, 3-54, 4-115, 5-168, 6-185, 7-204, 8-354, 9-359. Bowling: Zoysa 21-7-76-4, Perera 19-3-73-1, Fernando 16-1-107-1, Wickramasinghe 12.3-3-51-1, Arnold 14-2-50-1, Jayasuriya 6-3-10-0, De Silva 2-1-5-0. Sri Lanka (Ist innings): Atapattu run out 3 Jayasuriya c McKenzie Sangakkara b Donald 3 De Silva c Gibbs b Kallis 5 Jayawardene c Boucher b Arnold b Ntini 13 Kaluwitharana c Boucher Zoysa c Kallis b Ntini 1 Wickramasinghe c Gibbs Fernando lbw b Kemp 0 Perera not out 1 Extras: (lb-3 nb-1 w-3): 7 Total: (all out, 36.5 overs): 119 Fall of
wickets: 1-6, 2-24, 3-25, 4-40, 5-54, 6-71, 7-76, 8-97, 9-98. Bowling: Donald 9-2-28-2, Pollock 7-3-15-0, Kallis 5-1-15-1, Ntini 11-5-39-4, Kemp 4.5-1-19-2. |
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Japan sail into semifinals KOLKATA, Jan 21 (UNI) — Asian
champion Japan, displaying all round superiority sailed into the
semifinal of the Sahara Cup Millennium Football Tournament drubbing
Jordan 4-0 in a one-sided last quarterfinal at flood-lit Salt Lake
Stadium here tonight. After medio Yosimasa Fijit put Japan into the lead with 25 yard pile driver in the 30th minute, striker Ohta Keisuke buttressed the lead with a smart head off a flag kick nine minutes after the breather. While forward Keijiy Oshimura made it 3-0 a couple of minutes later, substitute Rideki Seikine drove the last nail on Jordan coffin. Japan after maintaining an edge in the first half totally dominated the second session and will now meet Yugoslavia in the second semifinal to be held on January 23. Tournament favourites Chile gave glimpses of their class as they demolished Iceland 2-0 and stormed into the semifinals yesterday. Forward Sebastian Gonzalez pumped in both goals for the Latin American outfit to keep themselves on course for the title in a pulsating flood-lit encounter. The Chileans, who put up a far more convincing performance, will cross swords with Bosnia in the first semifinal at the same venue on Monday. The Chileans shot into the lead in the 37th minute of the contest with Gonzalez finding the target with a right-footed placement from inside the box, giving no chance at all to the Iceland custodian Gunnleifsson. The goal was the result of a faster counter attack which saw midfielder Rodrigo Melendez lob the ball towards the goalmouth. An alert Gonzalez, who was lurking inside the box, had only to place the ball in. Leading by a solitary goal at the interval, the Chileans accelerated the pace of the game in the second session and the strategy paid dividends as they increased the margin within five minutes with Gonzalez stealing the limelight again. It was a brilliant effort from the hard-working Gonzalez as he unleashed a crisp volley to find the net following a measured centre from right flank by striker Fernando Martel. The second goal served as a tonic for the Latin American team who unleashed a flurry of attacks from both the flanks keeping the Icelanders on tenterhooks for most part of the proceedings. The Chileans, who emerged champions in Group-IV without really playing to their full potential, gave glimpses of their class at times though they were a little erratic at other times and tended to latch on to the ball for much too long inside the box. The Icelanders, who reached the venue only in the morning and took the field within eight hours, managed to break the Chilean defence at times, but lacked the sting to pose much of a threat. Determined to raise the level of performance after a string of below par shows in their group matches, Chile turned on the heat from the world go but had to wait till the end of the first half before they could open their account. |
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India
top pool with facile win LUDHIANA, Jan 21 — Favourites India topped pool ‘A’
with a facile 3-0 win over Bangladesh today to set up a semifinal
clash with group ‘B’ runners-up Singapore while Malaysia, who beat
Uzbekistan 4-0 in the last league match, will cross swords with
Bangladesh in the second semifinal of the third Asian School Hockey
Championship currently under way at the Punjab Agricultural University
grounds. On the last day of the league fixtures, the results were
more or less on expected lines. Although both India and Bangladesh had
qualified for the semifinals earlier, today’s result put India on
top of pool ‘A’ with six points from two victories. In pool ‘B’
Malaysia dashed the hopes of Uzbekistan with a 4-0 verdict enabling
Singapore to book the second berth in the last four from this pool
after they had notched up a convincing 5-0 win over lowly Iran. Although India took the field as favourites against Bangladesh today, the splendid fightback by the team from Dhaka was indeed a treat for the sizeable Sunday crowd. The contest brought out the best in the subcontinent
outfits, who excelled in attacks and counter-attacks. Nevertheless, India held a slight edge throughout displaying better cohesion. India
commenced the proceedings in a whirlwind fashion, forcing penalty
corners in rapid succession which, however, proved abortive. A diving
Satwinder, who connected a cross by Ravinder in the 13th minute saw
the ball narrowly missing the target. Again Bharat, despite being
well-positioned near the goalmouth, failed to connect Satwinder’s
cross from the left. Bangladesh hit back by forcing a penalty corner
in the 27th minute after Indian goalkeeper MG Suresh had successfully
blocked Bharat’s hit from the ‘D’ top. However, the short corner
went waste. India eventually took the lead a minute before the breather. A quick attack from the left by the promising Satwinder saw Bharat making the most of it as he pushed the ball into the goalmouth to give his side the lead. After the breather, India were down to serious business right away with Ravinder scoring the second field goal in the 36th minute. Thereafter, Bangladesh forced penalty corners in the 44th and 45th minutes, which, however failed to achieve the desired results. A
good opportunity came Bangladesh’s way midway through the second
half when Mohammed Ashraful Islam intercepted a cross from the left.
After racing into danger zone, he failed to find the target and
Shawkat Ali moving in tandem also shot over in haste. A counter-attack by India saw skipper Raju, Sudhir Kumar and Satwinder initiating a dangerous move but Satwinder was off target. The Indian goal had a narrow escape following a short corner by Bangladesh. Mohammed Maksud Alam, who was in a one-to-one situation with the goalkeeper, however, failed to do any damage. With
hardly one minute remaining for the long hooter, India drove the last
nail in the rivals’ coffin following the award of a penalty corner.
Following the hit, skipper Raju neatly deflected the ball home to push
the hosts to the top spot in the pool. Earlier, Singapore notched up an impressive 5-0 win over Iran, with Herman Bin Mansoor scoring thrice. Mansoor opened the account in the 27th minute after the Iranian goalkeeper had advanced out of charge. Shortly before half-time, Mansoor added the second goal off the fifth penalty corner when he deflected the hit taken by skipper Noorkhari Bin Samsudin. The
remaining three goals came in the last eight minutes. First Muhammad
Noh, after latching on to the ball on the ‘D’ top, shot home with
full confidence(3-0) after which Mansoor deflected a shot by Noorkhari
(4-0). In the dying minutes, Mohamed Hafidz made it 5-0 through a solo
effort. In the last match between Uzbekistan and Malaysia, the latter were clearly the superior side. The first goal came in the 17th minute when Prabakaran deflected a hit by Suffian Mahammad off a penalty corner. A penalty stroke awarded by umpire Satinder Sharma following a stick-check was converted by Prabakaran again in the 31st minute
making it 2-0 while Ismail Abu found the target a minute before half time off a penalty corner (3-0). With
hardly three minutes to go for the final hooter, Ikhmal Abd. Jabar scored off a rebound after Suffian Mahammad had failed to beat Askarov
Marsel under the Uzbekistan bar.
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Indian colts face uphill task CHENNAI, Jan 21 (UNI) — Indians
face an uphill task on the morrow having been placed in a
none-too-happy 122 for four, in reply to England’s first innings
total of 399 all out at close on the second day of the second under-19
cricket ‘Test’ here today. Notwithstanding a belligerent half century by No. 8 Chris Tremlette (61, 2x6, 6x4), the Indian bowlers came up with a good performance in the morning to restrict the England total one run shy of 400. But the batsmen failed to complement the bowlers falling to some indiscreet shot selection and were now in a spot of bother as they were adrift by 128 runs to make England bat again. The Indian innings would have been in total disarray had England not dropped three easy chances. The bowler to suffer on all the three occasions was left arm spinner Monty Paneswar. The man who did most of the damage was the medium pacer Andrew McGarry. The tall built paceman extracted good bounce and movement of the seam on an easy wicket. First, he got rid of opener Vinayak Mane (12), who struck three fours in his brief stay, before shouldering arms to the one which angled in to knock the off-stump. The Indians were pegged back further and were tottering at 39 for two in the 10th over when left hander Gautam Gambir played a horrendous shot after settling well. However, Ishan Ganda, dropped by Pratt at midwicket of left arm spinner Monty Panesar, and Y. Gnaneswara Rao arrested the tide adding 64 for the third wicket in 22.1 overs, before a double-blow by McGarry sent alarming signals in the Indian camp. Scoreboard England
(Ist innings): John Saddler (run out) 22, Nicky Peng c Ishan Ganda
b Vidyut 132, Ian Bell c Dharmichand b Ganda 61, Gary Pratt c Ratra b
Agarwal 40, Gordon Muchall (run out) 49, Ian Pattison b Triwedi 7,
Mark Wallace c Ratra b Dharmichand 6, Chris Tremlett c Khadkikar b
Dharmichand 61, Justin Bishop (run out) 0, Andrew McGarry lbw Agarwal
0, Monty Panesar (not out) 2, Extras: (b-1, lb-1, w-5,
nb-12) 19 Total: 399 all out in 144.2 overs. Fall of
wickets: 1-57, 2-199, 3-251, 4-290, 5-301, 6-313, 7-354, 8-354,
9-354, 10-399. Bowling: Siddarth Triwedi 16-4-56-1; Nitin
Agarwal 19-6-46-2; Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan 45-12-102-1; M. Dharmichand
39.2-8-126-2; Kashinath Khadkikar 12-2-21-0; Ishan Ganda 12-1-44-1;
Gautam Gambhir 1-0-2-0. India: (Ist innings): Gautam Gambhir c Saddler b Tremlette 23, Vinayak Mane b McGarry 12, Ishan Ganda (not out) 44, Y. Gnaneswar Rao lbw McGarry 30, Alind Nayudu c Wallace b McGarry 0, Khadkikar (not out) 9. Extras:
(lb-2, w-2) 4 Total: 122 for four wickets in 39 overs. Fall
of wickets: 1-33, 2-39, 3-103, 4-103. Bowling: Andrew
McGarry 9-1-28-3; Justin Bishop 9-3-33-0; Chris Tremlette 6-3-10-1;
Monty Panesar 9-2-35-0; Ian Pattison 6-2-14-0. |
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Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai to host Tests NEW DELHI, Jan 21 (UNI) — Veteran
S. Venkatraghvan will be the home umpire in the first India-Australia
Test match to be played in Mumbai from February 27 to March 3. Apart
from Mumbai, other traditional Test centres — Chennai and Kolkata —
will host the other two Tests in that order. Chennai will host the second Test scheduled from March 11 to 15 and the third Test will be held at Kolkata from March 18 to 22. Australia team is scheduled to arrive at Mumbai on February 14 and play their first game, against India A at Baroda from February 17 to 19. The visitors play their second first class match against Ranji Trophy champions at the Cricket Club of India
(CCI) Mumbai from February 22 to 24. The
third first-class tie against Board President’s XI will be held here
from March 6 to 8. The five one dayers which the visitors will play against India will be hosted by Bangalore, Pune, Indore, Vishakapatnam and Goa. Baroda, Mumbai and Delhi are the venues for the three first class matches. Talking to newspersons here today convenor of the umpire committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) Jyoti Bajpai said for the second and 3rd Tests, A.V. Jayprakash S.K. Bansal will be the home umpires, respectively, while International Cricket Council
(ICC) will select the other three umpires from its panel for the series. Bajpai said for the Test matches the reserve umpires are N. Menon, V.M. Gupte (first), C.R. Raghvan, T.R. Kashypan (second) and S. Bandekar, l.P. Verma (third). Bajpai also announced umpires for the five one dayers. They are: Ist
one dayer: S.K. Sharma and Devender Sharma. 3rd umpire — K.G
Lakshminarayanan at Bangalore, March 25. 2nd one dayer: I. Sivamani
and Dr S.C. gupta. 3rd umpire — C.R. Mohite at Pune, March 28. 3rd
one dayer: Vijay Chopra and K. Hariharan. 3rd umpire — S. Phatekar
at Indore, March 31. 4th one dayer: G.A. Pratap Kumar and S.K.
Tarapore. 3rd umpire — Alok Bhattacharyya at Vizag, April 3. 5th
one dayer: S.K. Porel and Francis Gomes. 3rd umpire — K. Murali in
Goa, April 6. |
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West Zone manage a draw SURAT, Jan 21 (PTI) — West Zone gave a fighting batting display to arrest the fall of wickets and manage a respectable draw against South Zone in the four-day Duleep Trophy match here today. West scored 330 for six in their second innings off 104 overs before the play was called off after eight mandatory overs had been bowled. South took five points from the match while West settled for three, taking their total tally to eight and nine points respectively. South have, however, played only two matches while West has completed three engagements. West Zone will meet East in the fourth and last round of Duleep fixture from February 1 to 4 at Rajkot. Vinod Kambli played superb innings, scoring 66 runs with two sixes and 12 fours off 63 balls. He was caught at short leg by S. Ramesh off left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi after hitting second six to long-off on the bowlers’ previous ball. West skipper Nayan Mongia, who came as an opener yesterday, scored 60 runs off 187 balls before being bowled by Sunil Joshi. Abhijit Kale and Jacob Martin made 52 and 47 runs, respectively. Martin hit three consecutive boundaries and Mongia one in a costly spell of spinner S. Sriram, that fetched 17 runs. West were saved from humiliation following three half-century partnerships for the first, second and third wicket stands. Scoreboard West Zone (Ist innings): 376 all out South Zone (Ist innings): 595 for four declared West Zone (IInd innings): Connor
Williams c Sriram
b Kapoor 43 Nayan Mongia b Joshi 60 Hrishikesh
Kanitkar c
Jacob Martin c Naidu b
Vinod Kambli c Ramesh b
Abijit Kale c Dravid b Raju 52 Wasim Jaffer not out 17 Sairaj Bahutule not out 09 Extras:
13 (5bys, 8nb) Total: 330 for six in 104 overs Fall of
wickets : 1/64, 2/114, 3/168, 4/221, 5/265, 6/310. Bowling
analysis: Doda Ganesh 17-2-73-1, S. Shahbuddin 4-0-17-0, Ashish
Kapoor 26-3-91-1, V. Raju 23-8-51-1, S. Joshi 21-6-62-3, Sriram
7-3-25-0, S. Ramesh 4-2-3-0, Badani 2-1-3-0.
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Amanjot
wins ITF title in Colombo CHANDIGARH, Jan 21 — India’s Amanjot
Singh, has won the Colombo leg of the International Tennis Federation’s
junior circuit group IV tournament which concluded in the Sri Lankan
capital yesterday. Amanjot, who trained at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) coaching centre, beat compatriot Jacob T. Mathew in straight sets, a CLTA spokesman said here today. This victory has added 40 valuable points to the score of Amanjot, which will improve his international ranking among boys in the under-18 category. Amanjot is slated to participate in the next leg of ITF junior circuit to be held in Delhi, beginning tomorrow. Amanjot
was earlier ranked 80 in the ITF junior rankings. |
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Jeev
improves to be joint 10th NEW DELHI, Jan 21 (PTI) — India’s ace golfer Jeev
Milkha Singh, shot a three-under 69 on the third day of the £ 500,000
Alfred Dunhill Championship and improved his standing on the
leaderboard by three places. The 29-year-old professional aggregated 11-under 205 after 54 holes at the Houghton Golf Club course at Johannesburg, improving his overnight position from tied 13th to tied 10th according to information received here today. However, leading the tournament was Australian youngster Adam Scott. The 20-year-old, playing his second season as a professional, shot a flawless seven-under 65 to aggregate 18-under 198, just one stroke ahead of Justin Rose of England. Rose, a former superstar amateur, finally rose up to his
potential and is tied for the second place along with the leader of first 36 holes, Dean Robertson of Scotland. Both are at 17-under 199. Three-time
British Open champion Nick Faldo, looking for his first title since
1997, is fourth at 15-under 201. |
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Asia
Cup deferred by one year LAHORE, Jan 21 (UNI) —The Asia Cup cricket scheduled
to be held in Karachi in April has been deferred by a year. According to acc secretary Zakir Hussain Syed, the Asia Cup will be held in Pakistan in April next year in which India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the uae and Hong Kong will take part. He expressed confidence that Asia Cup will be resumed next year without any hitch. Uae had won the acc Trophy last year and Hong Kong was runners-up and thus qualified for the Asia Cup. He said the acc had two options this year, either to hold the one-day tournament or to conduct the Test Championship between four Test playing Asian nations. He
asserted that postponement of the Asia Cup had nothing to do with the
cricketing relations of Pakistan and India and added “it’s a
separate issue.” The acc secretary said 37-day-long Asian Test
championship will be spread over five months so that no international
assignments clash with it. |
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Vinod
top seed NEW DELHI, Jan 21— Vinod Sewa, ranked 59, and Sania
Mirza, ranked 105, of India have been given top billing in the boys’
and girls’ section respectively in the Amtek ITF Junior Tennis
Circuit, starting at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association courts here
from tomorrow. In the 64-player boys field, there are as many as 36
Indian youngsters in the fray, with 10 of them getting seedings.
Amanjot Singh is the second seed, while Shivang Mishra has been placed
at the third position. |
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Abhinav
shoots new world mark CHANDIGARH, Jan 21 —
International shooter Abhinav Bindra shot 598/600 to set a new world
record and bag the gold medal at the Luxemburg Open National
Championship yesterday, according to information reaching here today. He shot 104.2 points in final and a total of 702.2 points. The previous record of 701.2 was held by Harji Bekoff of Russia. Abhinav
has already won one silver and two gold in the European circuit with
scores of 692.4, 697.1, 692.5, respectively. |
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MELBOURNE,
Jan 21 —It was bloody Sunday at the Australian Open as two of the
pre-tournament favourites, Pete Sampras and Marat Safin, were sent home
early in major fourth round upsets.
The gentle giant now faces Andre Agassi, who beat Australian Andrew Ilie earlier in the day, in the quarterfinals. With Sampras, Safin and world No 1 Gustavo Kuerten all out, Agassi is now odds on favourite to claim his third open title.