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| Monday, February
12, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
Paes’ power
guides India past China Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya with the trophy his team won in the five-match one-day series which concluded after the last match at Jade Stadium in Christchurch on Sunday. New Zealand won the match by 13 runs but Sri Lanka secured the series 4-1. — Reuters
photo India Seniors take on India ‘A’ |
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World Test Championship
approved Dahiya might keep
wickets Jadeja keen to play
against Australia Aussies unbeaten but
Waugh not satisfied |
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BCCI must handle PCA issue
carefully Chowrasia wins
Singhania title Bishop Cotton
School team winners
PSB move into
quarterfinals Tyson-Lewis fight this year likely 2002 National Games at
Hyderabad Salgaocar score 2-1win over
Churchill Karnataka
spikers debarred Inter-varsity softball
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Paes’ power
guides India past China LANG FANG (CHINA), FEB 11 — Buoyed by the prospect of leading his country to a first away win in eight years, Leander Paes unleashed his ruthlessness in outclassing Chinese top seed Zhang Yu to lead India into the final round of the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup Group I competition here today. Paes looked accustomed to the severe cold conditions after about a week in this suburban Chinese town winning the first reverse singles 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and 35 minutes to give India an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match rubber. China later narrowed down the margin to 3-2 when their number two Wang Yu defeated Syed Fazaluddin 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the dead last rubber. India will await the winner of Japan-Thailand tie for the April 6 to 8 The Japan versus Thailand tie has been postponed to next week and India will hope to face Thailand, as it will give them a chance to host the tie. If Japan wins, India will have to travel to the land of the Rising Sun, to carry themselves further ahead. Though China were weak opponents in Davis Cup terms, this away win should boost the Indian morale for the coming season after they had failed to register a triumph abroad since handing the famous 1993 defeat to France. With the likes of Guy Forget and Henri Leconte in the French team, Paes and Ramesh Krishnan, now the non-playing captain, had scripted the memorable win in Frejus, France. India’s overseas campaigns in later years were
thwarted as they lost to the Czech Republic, Italy, Britain, South Korea and Sweden, and only a considerable good show at home kept them afloat in the Asia-Oceania Group-I. Paes today was at his best against the much-touted Chinese, who was expected to give some semblance of opposition, but his ambitions were nipped in the bud. Paes did not give Zhang a chance to do anything and systematically took him apart both from behind and at the net. The Indian was so dominant that he did not allow to be broken even once though there was a slight scare in the second and third set, but he dug himself out in time with blistering serves being his trump card. The first set was a total demolition of Zhang as Paes allowed no room for the Chinese to take even a single game and raced to 5-0 lead with two service breaks. Paes’ stop volleys and drop shots did most of the killing as Zhang found himself stranded at the baseline while Paes controlled the net. Serving to save himself from ignominy, Zhang pushed himself too much but Paes hit some breathtaking forehand passing winners to setup three set-points for him. Zhang managed to save one before Paes executed a smash volley to finish the set 6-0. After Paes held his serve in the first game of the second set, Zhang, held his serve for the first time (1-1). Paes, however, was in his element as he thumped down two aces to hold his serve before breaking the Chinese in the fourth at love. He took the fifth also at love completing it with another ace down the middle for 4-1 lead. After both the players held their serves, Zhang found himself at the receiving end again in the eighth game. On the setpoint, Paes drew Zhang at the net and then passed him with a perfect groundstroke from the baseline leaving the Chinese stunned. The third set was a little long-drawn affair as the games went with serves till the seventh before Paes earned the only break of this set. Paes rallied from 0-30 down to stretch the eighth game to deuce on Zhang’s service and on
first chance cracked an overhead smash to take the lead (5-3). It was a setpiece situation for Paes and he did not let complacency get over him as he finished the match winning the ninth game at love. With only academic interest left in the second reverse singles, Fazaluddin played well in the first set though he was never in command. Both players held on to their serves and the first set was deadlocked at 6-6. The lanky Indian took the tie-breaker 7-5 to take a 1-0 lead. However, Wang came back strongly in the next two sets and did not allow his opponent to settle down. He served, volleyed and lobbed with ease as he took the next two sets 6-3, 6-4 to win a consolation victory for China. Indian non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan today termed the victory over China in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone Group I tie here as “well-deserved’’, especially keeping in mind the formidable playing conditions. Commenting on the performance of country’s number one Leander Paes who won both his singles matches and teamed well with Mahesh Bhupathi for a victory in the doubles, Ramesh had a word of praise. “Paes performed well. Today he disintegrated his opponent and maintained his superb level all the way through,’’ he said. Playing some of his best tennis in extreme conditions, Paes today blasted past Chinese number one Zhang Yu in straight sets 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 to take the country to the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone second round. Also, with this win, India took an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five encounter against China. India had shared the honours on the first day on Friday with Paes winning his match over Chinese southpaw Wang Yu 4-6, 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 and Syed Fazaluddin losing the other rubber to Zhang 4-6, 1-6, 0-6. The visitors brightened their prospects after taking the doubles yesterday when Paes teamed up with Bhupathi to take the country to beat the Chinese pair of Yang Jing Zhu and Xu Ran 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Asked which country would he prefer playing in the second round where India play the winner of the Thailand-Japan tie, Ramesh said it would definitely would be Thailand. “If it is Thailand, we have a big advantage as we play them in our country. This will be a big benefit for us. However, in case of Japan, we will have to travel to their country.’’ On whether he was confident of making it to the world group playoff, Ramesh said he looked positively at this. Conditions had been quite tough here for the Indians with slow courts and heavy balls adding up to the near-freezing temperature.
— UNI |
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Face-saving win for Kiwis CHRIST CHURCH, Feb 11 — New Zealand stopped Sri Lanka’s bid for an unprecedented 5-0 whitewash in their limited-overs cricket series by winning the final one-day match by 13 runs today at Jade Stadium. Craig McMillan bowled tailender Muttiah Muralitharan with four balls remaining. Preceding this final blow, McMillan took the crucial wicket of Russel Arnold in the 48th over when Sri Lanka still had an outside chance of overhauling New Zealand’s 282 for six. Arnold was caught by Roger Twose for 51, effectively ending the tourists’ charge as they were eventually dismissed for 269. New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming described the win as a great relief, for both the team and himself. “We hung in at difficult times and we were able to keep the momentum going. We took wickets at key times,” Fleming said. Although Sri Lanka’s chase was in disarray at 21 for three in the seventh over, a 99-run stand for the third wicket between Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene reinvigorated the innings and Fleming admitted his faith was wavering. “We’re not used to winning and at key times I felt it (worried) and I’m sure the rest of the team did too.” Fleming said the win only “scratched the surface” of turning the summer around for his team. “We’ve been just as frustrated as the public but you have to start somewhere and it’s great to start with a win today.” Half-centuries by Chris Harris and Jacob Oram helped New Zealand put up the commanding score. Oram scored his maiden one-day half century in his sixth match and top-scored with 59 off 57 balls. Scoreboard: New Zealand: Parore b Gallage 49 Spearman c Jayasuriya b Gallage 5 Fleming c Sangakarra b Fernando 40 Twose c Sangakarra b Fernando 1 Oram c Atapattu b Muralitharan 59 McMillan run out 23 Harris not out 52 Vincent not out 31 Extras: (1b, 11lb, 5w, 5nb) 22 Total: (for 6 wkts, 50 overs) 282 Fall of wickets: 1/18, 2/85, 3/87, 4/144, 5/191, 6/197. Bowling: Zoysa 9-0-46-0, Gallage 9-0-42-2, Muralitharan 10-0-44-1, Dharmasena 9-0-58-0, Fernando 10-0-65-2, Jayasuriya 3-0-15-0. Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya c Vincent b Franklin 3 Atapattu run out 76 De Silva c Fleming b Franklin 5 Sangakarra lbw b Tuffey 1 Jayawardene b Harris 46 Arnold c Twose b McMillan 51 Dharmasena c Harris b Franklin 30 Zoysa c Vettori b Tuffey 32 Fernando b McMillan 0 Muralitharan b McMillan 4 Gallage not out 3 Extras: (6lb, 8nb, 4w) 18 Total: (all out in 49.2 overs) 269 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-19, 3-21, 4-120, 5-150, 6-209, 7-259, 8-260, 9-263. Bowling: Tuffey 10-1-51-2, Franklin 9-0-44-3, Oram 3-0-23-0, Harris 10-0-42-1, Vettori 9-0-59-0, McMillan 8.2-0-44-3.
—AP |
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India Seniors take on India ‘A’ CHENNAI, Feb 11 — Indian cricketers, training hard to succeed against the Steve Waugh-led Australian team in the upcoming Test series, are set to clash, in the midst of the preparatory camp, in the Hero Honda npk Salve Challenger series one-day tournament, which begins here tomorrow. The first of the four-match (50 overs a side) tournament will be a day/night encounter between Indian Seniors led by national captain Sourav Ganguly and India ‘a’, led by his deputy Rahul Dravid. Ganguly, who was not in favour of playing a one-day tournament in the midst of preparation for a tough series, said, “we cannot really help it. The tournament had to be played sometime or the other and this was perhaps the only time available for the board to hold it.” The teams are evenly placed as far as batting and bowling strengths are concerned. The third team in contention is India ‘B’ now led by veteran Robin Singh after Sachin Tendulkar declined captaincy. Indian seniors, who have been winning the tournament since its inception in 1994, are clear favourites to win again. However, India ‘A’ would be looking to break the stranglehold this time around. Teams: India Seniors: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Shiv Sundar Das, Yuvraj Singh, Hemang Badani, V.V.S. Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Vijay Dahiya, Aashish Kapoor, Debashish Mohanty, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Sunil Joshi. India A: Rahul Dravid (capt), Sadagopan Ramesh, Sridharan Sriram, Jacob Martin, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Nayan Mongia, Venkatesh Prasad, Ajit Agarkar, Iqbal Siddiqui, Rahul Sanghvi, W.D. Balaji Rao.
— PTI
World Test Championship approved SYDNEY,
Feb 11 — A World Test Championship and a 10-year Test and one-day programme were among a slew of significant initiatives announced by the International Cricket Council executive board here today. The 10-year schedule for Test-playing nations ensures all 10 Test-playing nations play each other at home and away once every five years. The two-day executive board meeting in Melbourne, which ended today, also gave a go-ahead to the much-awaited world championship for Test cricket which will award points to each team based on their performance in a Test series, which must comprise of at least two matches. The accumulated points over a period of time will decide the eventual Test champion. The championship will get underway in May this year with Pakistan’s two-Test tour of England becoming the first series to be taken into account. However, initially the rankings will be based on results over the last five years, which will ensure that Australia, who have won a record 15 Tests in a row, will start as the first champion. A major step towards a fully professional independent international umpiring system was also announced. ICC
president Malcolm Gray told newspersons that the Test championship and calendar were overdue and the decisions signalled the start of a new era in international cricket. “The aim of both the tours programme and the
ICC Test championship is to add interest, context and status to Test match cricket. “This will be the first time a
coordinated calendar of international cricket has been adopted, giving the opportunity for long term planning. It will also provide new Test playing nations such as Zimbabwe and Bangladesh with regular fixtures against all other teams,” Gray said. The Test championship will be structured on a rolling league basis and the rankings will be based on the results of the latest series, home and away, between each of the teams. Two points will be allocated for winning a series and one for a drawn rubber. The result of each series will replace the previous equivalent and the
ICC is planning to institute a trophy for the best Test team. It’s intended there will be a trophy and it will be handed over from one country to another when they fall off the top position, Gray said. ICC
is working with Wisden to source the relevant historical data to compile the first league table. ICC
chief executive Dave Richards said a new umpiring system will be introduced by April 2002 with the introduction of two panels of international umpires. One will be an elite group of up to eight full time umpires contracted to the
ICC while the second will be termed an emerging panel, made up of between 25 to 30 umpires. Richards said each member country will be asked to appoint an umpires manager with
ICC also appointing one to co-ordinate efforts to recruit high quality new entrants and raise umpiring standards. Other significant moves include the setting up of a cricket committee to conduct a review of playing conditions in London from May 23 to 25. The review, to be headed by Sunil Gavaskar, will examine questions such as the use of television replays in umpiring decisions. An approach similar to that for the umpires would also be applied to match referees with a full time panel of up to eight referees to be contracted to
ICC and assigned to international series. A supplementary panel will be allocated to cover other
ICC approved international tournaments. Formal criteria will be introduced to encourage recruitment of a new generation of referees to the panels. The executive board decided to stage next
ICC trophy in Canada in July this year with the top three teams from which will qualify for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. It also approved Christchurch as venue for next year’s third
ICC under-19 world cup that will see 16 teams compete. The meeting also received an update on progress in recruiting a new Chief Executive to succeed David Richards. The details of individual candidates were, however, not announced.
— PTI |
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CHENNAI, Feb 11 — Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly today hinted that Vijay Dahiya might keep the wickets in the first Test against Australia in Mumbai, starting on February 27. Addressing reporters at the end of the five-day camp here, Ganguly said “Dahiya is doing fine here. He suffered an injury on the little finger on his left hand. But an x-ray yesterday proved there was no fracture and only a bruise.” He thus, singled out Dahiya from Nayan Mongia, who has been exonerated by the CBI, for the first Test at Mumbai. He also indicated that there would be three spinners in the squad of 14. “The spinners are doing well, but we have not decided which of the three will be selected. The seamers also showing good form. All are good and hungry to do well but the best three will be in the squad,” the Bengal southpaw said. About selection committee chairman Chandu Borde’s remarks yesterday that none of the spinners in the camp had impressed him as they were bowling flat and not giving much air to the ball, Ganguly said, “it is his personal opinion. They are bowling well and looking good. They are not bad.” Drawn into comment on Australian captain Steve Waugh’s remark that the Aussies had a better spin attack than India, Ganguly said “I do not know about his remarks”. On Waugh’s remarks that the pressure would be on the Indians, Ganguly said “I think the pressure is on them (Australians) as they hold the tag of world champions. Anyway, the pressure is to be handled by either side.” Ganguly said conditions at the camp were tough and had made each player mentally stronger. “We are working on our plan and strategy. We have another 16 days to go for the first Test.” Brushing aside suggestions about fitness troubles, as he was seen holding his back after bowling at the nets today, Ganguly said “I am perfectly all right. There is nothing wrong with me. In fact, I had bowled 50 overs in a Ranji Trophy match.” Ganguly sought to underplay notion of match-winners and said, “I will always maintain that all the 11 players have to perform for the team’s success.” He refused to draw any comparisions when asked to comment on the coaching of John Wright. “I am not here to draw any comparison. Wright has shown professionalism in his coaching, which is terrific. I am amazed at the way he is keen on the team performing well.” Ganguly also said there had been a marked difference in many areas as fielding practice had seen something new every day and the nets had been more organised. The Indian skipper felt the probables were working hard to get into the final team. “However, the final composition will depend on the surface that we are going to play,” he reminded. The camp will resume here from February 18 after the Challenger series.
— PTI
Jadeja keen to play against Australia NEW DELHI, Feb 11 — Cricketer Ajay Jadeja, who has moved the Delhi High Court against the cricket board’s decision to ban him for five years, has said he is keen to play against Australians in the coming series and the ban should be kept in suspended animation. Seeking a stay on the BCCI’s ban for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal, Jadeja, in his interim application, pleaded that the ban order should be kept in suspended animation till the final outcome on his main writ. He said “irreparable loss and injury” would be caused to him if the ban order of December 12 last year was not stayed and on the other hand “no harm or loss will be caused to the respondents (BCCI) and the government or anybody else if the order of December 12 is suspended and he is allowed to play”. The court has fixed hearing on his plea for interim stay on the BCCI order along with his main writ on March 29. Jadeja said he was ready to “undertake to give his best to the game of cricket which he has always done.” Making a strong plea for an interim injunction in this regard, the middle order batsman said if the court after hearing his main writ came to a conclusion that the ban order was not “correct, he would have lost an important period of his life to play cricket, which could never be returned.”
— PTI |
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Aussies unbeaten but Waugh not satisfied MELBOURNE, Feb 11 — Steve Waugh may have become the first Australian captain to lead his side through an unbeaten summer since the advent of one-day cricket, but he is far from satisfied. Australia clinched the finals of the triangular limited-over tournament here over the West Indies 2-0 after earlier having won all eight preliminary matches, also involving Zimbabwe. That came on top of a preceding 5-0 whitewash of the West Indies in the Test series to stretch the team’s Test match winning streak to a record 15. But Waugh will not allow the team to rest on its laurels, particularly with the gruelling tour of India beginning next week. “I said after the tour of New Zealand (last March) that it was only the beginning of what we could achieve,” Waugh said today. “I still believe we can get better and play better cricket. Even though we’ve won every game this season, there is plenty of room for improvement.” However, Waugh said the team realised it had enjoyed “a pretty good summer.” “It’s a big achievement, we probably haven’t realised how big the achievement is, but in time it will be recognised”. “We played good cricket all the way through. The guys have worked hard and deserve their success.” The highlight of second final was Mark Waugh’s Australian limited overs’ record score of 173. His 148-ball innings came a day before interview with Australian Cricket Board investigator Greg Melick. Mark Waugh said the innings showed he was able to cope with maintaining his form despite the pressure of off-field events with his alleged links to illegal Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta having hung over him all summer.
— AFP
BCCI must handle PCA issue
carefully CHANDIGARH, Feb 11 — What action will the special general body meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) take against the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) and its president, Mr Inderjit Singh Bindra, when it meets on February 23 at Chennai? Though nobody in the board is even willing to hazard a guess on the likely course of action to be taken at the meeting, there are indications that the board might crack the whip both while taking action against Mr Bindra, a former President of the board, and also against the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA). The Punjab issue has been lingering on for a very long time. There are indications that the BCCI may slap a ban on the Punjab Cricket Association for an indefinite period. If that were to happen then it would do incalculable harm to the game both in the state as well as India in general as the game is trying valiantly to come out of the murky world of match-fixing and betting. The government’s decision to stop tobacco companies from sponsoring the game any further will only add to the trouble the game is going through. The question which immediately arises is: Who will suffer if the Punjab Cricket Association is expelled/suspended from the BCCI? Over the years the Punjab Cricket Association has built up infrastructure which should be the envy of any other cricketing body in the country. Not only has the association built up a world class stadium at SAS Nagar but has developed international facilities also at Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar as also Chandigarh, where the association conducted a number of international matches, both one-dayers as well as Tests, before it shifted its activities to SAS Nagar. The Punjab state team this year won the North Zone Ranji Trophy Cricket Championship with an all-win record and it also won all matches in the zonal one-day competition. Its performance in the Cooch Behar and Vijay Merchant can be the envy of any other state unit and over the years it has given a number of players to the Indian youth as well as the Indian national team. Even now there are a number of cricketers from the state at the camp in Chennai which is being conducted in preparation of the home series against Australia starting later this month. If now the BCCI does take some drastic action against the PCA it is the boys who would suffer. The players from the state will look for other avenues to play the game and might just shift to some other state. But such an action is easier said than done. There are chances that the players might not be able to find any suitable opportunities to play the game at the highest level and will just waste their talent honed by years of practice and coaching. One question which haunts all lovers of the game in Punjab is what will the state Government do to evade the situation? It just cannot be silent spectators as boys from the state desperately look for opportunities to play the game. That the BCCI wants to crack the whip against the PCA is apparent from its own action. While the issue of match-fixing came to the fore early last year after the South Africans toured India , the apex body stopped Punjab Cricket Association’s subsidy from the sale of television rights in 1999 itself. And when this issue came up at the Working Committee in Delhi last month (where again the alleged remarks of Mr Bindra and the PCA’s role came up for discussion) nobody had any answer but the BCCI has brazenly got away with the action. All observers of the game were expecting that the meeting of the BCCI disciplinary committee which had summoned both Mr Bindra and Mr M.P. Pandove, in his capacity as secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, at Chennai on January 18 last would finally end the unhappy issue plaguing Indian cricket for quite some time. Besides the BCCI president, Dr A.C. Muthiah, the other members of the committee were Mr Ram Prasad of Karnataka as vice-president of the BCCI and Gujarat’s Narhari Amin, who is also a vice-president of the board. These three senior functionaries of the board gave Mr Bindra as well as Mr Pandove a patient hearing and referred the matter to the working committee, which was convened in Delhi towards of the end of January last to take a final decision. The stand of the Punjab Cricket Association on the issue all along has been that all alleged allegations made by Mr Bindra was made in his capacity as a former president of the board and was not made on behalf of the PCA. In any case, the PCA points out, the information which Mr Bindra was privy to could not have come his way as president of the Punjab Cricket Association. He could only know about it either as president of the board or as a former president of the board. It was at the working committee meeting that Mr P.M. Rungta (representing Rajasthan) and Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya (representing the Cricket Association of Bengal) insisted on a special general body meeting to decide the issue. And it must be remembered that the income tax authorities have raided the business and residential premises of these two senior functionaries of the board and they have still to be cleared by the department of any wrongdoing. These two also proposed Kolkata as the venue of the special general body meeting and it was only at the insistence of the BCCI president that the meeting was shifted to Chennai. At the working committee Mr Susand Monohar of Vidharbha, the person who has been entrusted with the task of drafting the new constitution of the BCCI, also tried to intervene on behalf of the PCA but in the final analysis the vote power of the Rungta-Dalmiya combine carried the day through although Dr Muthiah did make a determined effort to have the issue settled. Much will now depend how the members attending the special general body meeting of the BCCI see the issue involved. But any drastic step on their part can upset the whole equilibrium of the Indian cricket scene. |
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Chowrasia wins
Singhania title NEW DELHI, FEB
11 — Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia played inspired golf to win his maiden title on the Wills Sport Golf Tour when he won the Rs 6 lakh Sir Padampat Singhania Open Golf Championship at the Army Golf Course here today. The diminutive Kolkotan shot a three-under 69 on the final day to aggregate one-under 287, thus etching a victory by three strokes over the more fancied Arjun
Atwal. Atwal, also from Kolkata, shot one-over 73 for a final tally of two-over 290. Dinesh Raghuvanshi of Pune was third at five-over 293, while Shiv Prakash and Akbar Ali were tied for the fourth place at six-over 294. This was Chowrasia’s first title as a pro in his three-year-long career. Earlier, he had created a sensation by finishing tied for the second place behind Atwal during the 1999 Wills Indian Open. Chowrasia has had four runner-up finishes on the Tour, two of which came this season. The victory was worth Rs 97,000 for
Chowrasia, while Atwal received Rs 67,000. Vikrant Chopra shot his worst round of the four-day tournament — a seven-over 79 — but that was still good enough to hand him the amateur title with a four-day tally of 305. Anitya Chand was second at 307, while Amit Luthra finished third at 310.
Bishop Cotton
School team winners CHANDIGARH, Feb 11 — Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, were declared the team winners securing 69 points in the All-India Kalaswala Cup Golf Tournament for schools organised at Golf Club, Chandigarh today. BCS team comprised of Tegvir Singh Sibia, Birinder Singh and Parminder Singh. Kalaswal Senior Secondary School, Qadian, earned 68 points to finish runner-up. The team was: Col J.S. Deo, Col Mohan Singh Ghumman and Kanwal S. Bajwa. Jayatendra Singh of Doon School collected 37 points to win individual men’s event while runner-up spot was claimed by Aman Dhaliwal of YPS Patiala. In the ladies section, Dimple Minocha of Carmel Convent Chandigarh collected 29 points. Gurbaaz Mann of St John’s High School was the ‘longest drive’ winner. The ‘oldest participant’ award went to Mohinder Singh Guron (71) of Aitchison College, Lahore, while the youngest participants award was given to Komal Jwanda (18) of St Stephens’ School, Sector 45. |
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PARIS, Feb 11 — Holders Spain were knocked out of the Davis Cup by the Netherlands yesterday while Ecuador fought back to trail Australia 2-1 with a day to go in their world group first round encounter. The USA face an uphill task to qualify after Switzerland took a 2-1 lead in their world group match in Basel, while beaten 1999 finalists France qualified with an unassailable 3-0 lead over Belgium in Ghent. Spain’s emotional win over Australia in December’s final seemed a long time ago as Dutch doubles pairing Paul Haarhuis and Sjeng Schalken clinched the upset victory by winning their rubber against Spain’s Alex Corretja and Juan Balcells 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (12/10) for an unbeatable 3-0 lead. An inspired Haarhuis led the Dutch to victory in front of a vociferous 5,000-strong crowd after the Spanish pair failed to take several set points in the fourth set. Spain never recovered from losing both of Friday’s singles rubbers. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain’s hero in Barcelona, had lost a five-set marathon to Davis Cup debutant Raemon Sluiter 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (9/7) 3-6 7-6 (7/3) 6-4. Clay court specialist Ferrero was ultimately unable to cope with Sluiter’s booming serve on the fast indoor carpet at Eindhoven’s indoor sportcentrum. Ferrero’s early break in the fifth set should have been enough for victory, but he then double-faulted, giving Sluiter the crucial break back in the seventh game. Carlos Moya put up less of a fight, losing 6-4 7-5 6-4 to Schalken. The Netherlands face the winner of the Germany-Romania tie, which Romania are leading 2-1 after Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu beat David Prinosil and Marc-Kevin Gollner 6-4 6-4 6-4 in Braunschweig. In Perth, Ecuador’s Lapentti brothers, 24-year-old Nicolas and 18-year-old Giovanni, teamed up to score their greatest victory as a doubles combination to beat Australians Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs 6-2 2-6 1-6 7-6 (7/1) 12-10. They won a four-hour battle after surviving three match points in the ninth game of the fifth set. The tie will be decided by today’s reverse singles, in which Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt meets Nicolas Lapentti and Patrick Rafter comes up against Giovanni Lapentti. “That was the best result — the most important one — we have achieved together in doubles,” said Nicolas Lapentti. “Australia still have an advantage, because I am going to be only 80 to 90 per cent Sunday (because of the demands of the doubles),” he added. The Australians were stunned by the brothers’ spirit. “They had a lot of courage,” said non-playing captain John Fitzgerald. New USA non-playing captain Patrick McEnroe is having a baptism of fire, as 19-year-old Roger Federer teamed up with Lorenzo Manta for a straight sets 6-4 6-2 7-5 win over Jan-Michael Gambill and Justin Gimelstob. Federer could secure victory in first singles clash today with Gambill, who he has beaten three times in last months. French duo Cedric Pioline and Fabrice Santoro clinched victory against Belgium, defeating Christophe Rochus and Tom Van Houdt 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7/3). France won both singles on Friday. Yevgeny Kafelnikov gave struggling Marat Safin a hand for a 6-4 6-4 2-6 7-6 (9/7) victory over Jan Kroslak and Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia to pull Russia to a 2-1 advantage in Bratislava. In Rio De Janeiro, Brazilian doubles pair Jaime Oncins and Alexandre Simoni beat Morocco’s Karim Alami and Hicham Arazi 6-3 6-3 6-3 to clinch a 3-0 winning lead for the South Americans. Sweden, meanwhile, took a 2-1 lead against the Czech Republic thanks to a 6-2 4-6 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 win by Jonas Bjorkman and Nicklas Kulti over Davif Rikl and Jiri Novak in Helsingborg. — AFP |
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PSB move into
quarterfinals CHENNAI, Feb 11 — Amid high drama Punjab and Sind Bank, Jalandhar, became the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals by virute of better goal average as their last league match in Group “B” in the 31st Junior National Hockey Championship ended in a 1-1 draw here today. Since Pondicherry had failed to turn up for the tournament for the reasons best known to them, the group was reduced to a three-team affair and both the armymen and the bankmen finished with a win and a draw each having defeated Andhra, which ended up at the bottom of the table. However, the bankmen by virtue of better goal average (five for and one against — plus four) made the last eight grade, while, services had scored six goals and conceded three (plus three). The laxity on the part of the Services against Andhra yesterday during which they conceded two goals after leading 3-0, proved crucial in the end. Earlier in an inconsequential group D match Jammu and Kashmir, riding on a four goal blitz (including a hat-trick) by forward Mandeep Singh, thrashed Assam 7-0 after leading 4-0 at half time while SAIL
defeated Kerala 6-0 (half time 3-0) in Group “E” and Haryana accounted for Madhya Pradesh 1-0 in Group “F”. Placed in a must-win situation, the armymen made their intentions clear and pressed hard to take the lead. But the bankmen, for whom a draw would carry them to the next phase, defended well. After a barren first half Service forged ahead through a penalty stroke conversion by Mahadhir in the fifth minute of the second half. The armymen nearly held the lead, before the bankmen restored parity six minutes from time through Ajit Pal Singh amid tension and controversy.
— UNI |
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Tyson-Lewis fight this year likely LONDON, Feb 11 — Mike Tyson is likely to fight Lennox Lewis this year, both boxers’ camps told the BBC today. The Lewis camp has suggested July 21 as a date for the long-awaited bout with Tyson, while Tyson’s manager Shelley Finkel told BBC that the former heavyweight world champion wanted the fight later. The Tyson camp wants the fight to take place around September after the controversial American has had an earlier bout, probably in April. Lewis is scheduled to make the next defence of his world heavyweight crown against US boxer Hasim Rahman on April 21. Lewis’ business manager, Adrian Ogun, said the fight with Tyson would be worth around $ 100 million, making it the richest in boxing history. “We’re very pleased to hear that Mike wants to fight,” Ogun told BBC radio.
— AFP |
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2002 National Games at
Hyderabad PATIALA, Feb 11 — Even as Punjab is dilly dallying over holding the National Games in the state, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has gone a step ahead and has selected Hyderabad as the venue for the 2002 National Games which will be held in the Andhra Pradesh capital from February 1 to 11,2002. A top IOA source confirmed that the conduct of the Punjab National Games, or even their cancellation, will have absolutely no bearing on the schedule of the Hyderabad National Games. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the games village, which is coming up on the outskirts of Hyderabad, in the last week of this
month. Sources reveal that the construction work of the games village has been handed over to a leading Hyderabad-based construction firm which has been given a deadline to complete the entire work, including the setting up of the necessary infrastructure, within a time frame of eleven months. There will be no major problems on the financial front as the Andhra Pradesh government has already given an undertaking for the Rs 150 crore taken as loan from HUDCO for the games. The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) will be playing a big role in conducting the games and letters have already been dispatched to the presidents of associations in 23 disciplines seeking their technical expertise regarding the conduct of various events. IOA sources have revealed that the state government and SAAP have made it clear to the IOA that there will be no postponement of the games irrespective of the fate of the National Games to be held in Punjab. Technical adviser to the IOA, Mr A.S.V Prasad, and badminton legend Parkash Padukone are expected to play a big role as far as the technical aspect of the games is concerned. In fact, the organisers had approached Parkash to be present in Hyderabad after the Senior National Badminton Championships which concluded at Jaipur recently. In order to facilitate speedier renovation at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad, the administrative offices of the Andhra Pradesh Youth Services and those of SAAP, which were earlier housed in the stadium, have already been shifted to a new location. |
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Salgaocar score 2-1win over Churchill MARGAO, Feb 11 — A 80th minute goal by medio Dharamjit Singh boosted Salgoacar Sports Club (Goa) to a 2-1 win over Zee Churchill Sports in the sixth round of the National Football Leauge (NFL) championship match beign played at Nehru Stadium Fatorda here today. Edson De Crasto scored in the 17th minute for Churchill while Climax Lawrence in 48th minute and Dharamjit Singh in the 80th minute scored for winners. With this win Salgaocar came on par F.C. Kochi and Vasco Sports Club Goa with 12 points and finishied second below table toppers Mohan Bagan (13 points) on better goal difference. In a fast-paced game with an equal share of exchanges by both the teams in both the halves Zee Churchill surged ahead as early as the 17th minute through Edson De Crasto when Francise Silveira santched the ball from Salgoacar’s defender Augustin Rodriques and passed it to Edson who slammed it into the net 1-0. Salgoacar had a chance to equalise in the 25th minute of the first half but Alvito D’Cunha missed a sitter. Churchill could have increased their lead but Fracnise Silveira failed to control the ball of a cross by Edson. After change of ends, Salgaocar regrouped well began with full steam and restored parity in the 48th through a penalty award. Salgaocar were awarded the spot kick by referee Michel Andrew from Kerala when Churchill’s Danzil Ferrao handled the ball in the danger zone off Tejani Ahmed’s cross from the left flank. Lawrence converted the kick correctly 1-1. Stung by the equaliser, Churchill attacked in waves and should have taken the lead again in the 59th but Roque Baretto’s attempt missed the goal by inches. The move was launched by a good cross from Jose Colaco to Edson, who switched on the ball to Baretto.
— UNI
NEW DELHI, Feb 11 — In a major reversal of fortunes, Karnataka which had entered the final of the Senior National League Volleyball Championships beating Chandigarh here today were debarred for violation of rules. The control committee of the Volleyball Federation of India debarred Karnataka after they were found to have made four changes from their team which played in the national championship — one in excess of the permitted limit. Following the decision, Delhi which was placed behind Karnataka with three wins and two losses will now take on Punjab, which lead the tally with five straight wins, in the final tomorrow. Karnataka’s ouster has also illuminated Kerala’s chances of qualifying for the superleague to be played later this year. Earlier in the day, Karnataka overpowered Chandigarh 20-25, 30-28, 25-16, 25-16 in a match that witnessed some exciting rallies. Chandigarh put up a stiff fight in the first set to take it 25-20. But Karnataka spikers fought on to take the second set 30-28. The rally continuied in to the next set which Karnataka won 25-16 with a spike by Sreesekhar closing off the set. A powerful spike by Lakshmi Narayana followed by two successive service points by the spiker put Karnataka in the lead in the fourth set which they went on to win 25-16 and wrap up the match 3-1. Meanwhile in the other matches of the day, Delhi beat Madhya Pradesh 22-25, 29-27, 25-16, 25-20 while Punjab defeated Kerala 25-19, 25-19, 27-25. Backed by an array of powerful spikes by Ashish Arora, MP outclassed Delhi in the first set. MP took the set 22-25 with Ashish himself winning nine points.
— PTI Inter-varsity softball AMRITSAR, Feb 11 — Fiftyone teams, including 22 women’s teams, are participating in the All-India Inter-University Softball (men and women) Championships 2000-01 being hosted by Guru Nanak Dev University here from February 12 to 16, according to Dr R.S. Bawa, Director Sports of the university and organising secretary of the championships. Mr Hari
Jaisingh, Editor, The Tribune, will inaugurate the championships on February 12 and matches shall start at 10 a.m. League matches shall be held on February 15 and 16. |
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