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| Monday, February
26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Van Scheppingen lifts
trophy England struggle to save
Test Kiwis beat Pak by 138
runs Stunning feats at “Rural Olympics” |
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JCT go down to Air-India East Bengal carve out 2-0
win Mohun Bagan lose to Churchill India, Germany clash in first Test today Code for
sportspersons, sports bodies 25 years of chair
umpiring Ashok sparkles in
North Zone A win 20 teams for DSA
Lague Dharmender, Punpreet
best athletes
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Van Scheppingen lifts
trophy Chandigarh, February 25 Van Scheppingen won $3600 and 50 ATP points for his effort. He well next compete in a challenger meet in Singapore. The top seed began well, breaking Israeli Okun in the opening game though he almost lost his serve when at 40-30 up, he served a double fault. Okun wasted a breakpoint and after three deuces Van Scheppingen held serve to lead 2-0. Okun, who had come through the qualifying rounds, ran out of steam against the top seed and could not match his earlier performance. Looking tired he almost lost his serve again in the fifth game. At 1-3 and 0-40 down, he forced a deuce and then hit a blistering forehand to win the game. In the seventh game again he pulled himself up to a deuce with an ace down the middle and then hit another ace to win his service game to be 3-4. Van Scheppingen easily won his service game and then broke the Israeli in the ninth to take the set 6-3. Van Scheppingen served well and also returned well to leave Okun stranded many times. The Dutch’s power-packed double-fisted backhands and blistering forehand rarely found an answer from Okun. “I started well today and my service was also good. It got better as the match progressed. The crowd was better and there were not many distractions but it is a shame that so few people came today. “Yesterday, the crowd was much bigger. They had probably come to watch Leander. I wish more people would come to watch the foreign players as this is such a nice tournament, so well organised.” Van Scheppingen started the second set with a bang, winning his service game at 40-15 and then stretching Okun to a deuce with a great rally and a double-fisted backhand return down the line. The score was 1-1. Van Schippengen, in the third game, came back from a break point down, to lead 2-1 and then found himself with three break points on Okun’s serve. The Israeli saved one but could not do any more as he was broken in the fourth game. But in the next game, which proved to be a game of errors, Van Scheppingen lost his touch and after being 40-15 double-faulted and then let Okun force parity at 40-40. Okun showed some deft touches to break the Dutch’s serve and then won the sixth game to be 3-3. Serving at 5-6, Okun was 0-30 down when his shot hit the net and landed out. With his countrymate Andy Ram, whom he has ousted in the semifinals, and the crowd cheering on he forced a deuce and raised the visions of taking set to tie-breaker. On the fifth deuce he hit a down the line passing shot which the crowds cheered wildly but then double-faulted to hand the advantage and match point to Van Schppingen. Another deuce and then Van Scheppingen finally won on the sixth match point. Okun looked tired through out the match. He won $2120 and 35 ATP points. Van Scheppingen dedicated his victory to his grandfather Klaas Karte, who died two months ago. “He was my biggest fan and he came to all the tournaments I played in. I had won two futures in Holland but this win is for him.” Earlier in the doubles final second-seeded Czech pair of Frantisek Cermak and Radek Stepanek easily defeated the third-seeded duo of Giorgio Galimberti of Italy and Nir Welgreen of Israel 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 13 minutes. After 4-4 the Czech pair broke with some beautiful shots at the net. The winner was an excellent return in the middle, bisecting Welgreen and Galimbreti. Then Cermak held serve to win the set 6-4. Welgreen and Galimberti were again broken in the first and third games before they won the fifth to open their score in the second set. The Czech pair took the second set displaying great reflexes at the net. Today results: Singles: Dennis van Scheppingen (Ned) b Noam Okun (Isr) 6-3, 7-5. Doubles: Frantisek Cermak/Radek Stepanek (Lze) b Giorgio Galimberti (Ita)/Nir Welgreen (isr) 6-4, 6-2.
The ATP donated $ 3,000 for the Gujarat earthequake victims. |
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England struggle to save
Test
The previous highest was 83 by the same pair in the first innings. Hussain’s bad luck with the umpires continued from Pakistan when he was ruled out leg before wicket to Muttiah Muralitharan for one, four runs later. Atherton stuck it out till the end of the day with Graham Thorpe (2 not out) to remain unbeaten on 44 made in a stay of 248 minutes during which period he hit only one four. England’s chances of saving the Test on a pitch becoming increasingly difficult for batting, rested heavily on him. England resuming at a promising 202 for four in the first innings crashed to 253 all out before lunch this morning. Jayasuriya, in a sensational spell of left-arm spin bowling, took three wickets for eight runs to force England to follow-on. England folded up dramatically for 253, losing their remaining six wickets for the addition of just 51 runs. After fast bowler Chaminda Vaas had made the initial breakthrough by taking the wickets of Trescothick (122) and Graeme Hick (5), Jayasuriya ran through the rest of the batting in a seven-over spell. He began the day by having nightwatchman Robert Croft caught at silly point by Mahela Jayawardene for nine, and then went on to take the wickets of Craig White (25) and Andy Caddick (0) in one over. Scoreboard England (Ist innings): (overnight 202-4) Atherton lbw b Vaas 33 Trescothick c Sangakkara b Vaas 122 Hussain lbw b Muralitharan 3 Thorpe c Dilshan b Muralitharan 7 Stewart lbw b Jayasuriya 19 Croft c Jayawardene b Jayasuriya 9 Hick c Sangakkara b Vaas 5 White c Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 25 Giles c Dilshan b Muralitharan 4 Caddick c Jayawardene b Jayasuriya 0 Gough not out 0 Extras: (b-2 lb-3 nb-21) 26 Total: 253 Fall of wickets: 1-83 2-93 3-117 4-197 5-206 6-217 7-239 8-253 9-253 Bowling: Vaas 24-7-53-3 (nb-2), Muralitharan 54.3-14-79-3 (nb-11), Dharmasena 22-6-51-0 (nb-6), Fernando 2-0-10-0 (nb-2), Jayasuriya 27-7-50-4, De Silva 3-2-5-0. England (2nd innings): Atherton not out 44 Trescothick c Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 57 Hussain lbw b Muralitharan 1 Thorpe not out 2 Extras: (b-5 lb-4 nb-5) 14 Total: (for two wickets) 118 Fall of wickets: 1-101 2-105 Bowling (to date):
Vaas 8-3-20-0, Fernando 4-0-10-0, Jayasuriya 22-9-32-1, Dharmasena 9-2-13-0, Muralitharan 25-11-32-1, Arnold 1-0-2-0.
Reuters/AFP  |
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Kiwis beat Pak by 138
runs
Scoreboard New Zealand S Fleming b Waqar 0 N Astle c Moin b Waqar 71 R Twose b Mahmood 42 J Oram c Moin b Razzaq 1 C McMillan not out 104 L Vincent lbw Razzaq 4 C Harris not out 39 Extras: (W14,Nb3,Lb6) 23 Total: (for five wickets, 50 overs)284 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-112, 3-113, 4-166, 5-172. Bowling: Akram 10-0-62-0(W13), Waqar 10-0-59-1, Mahmood 10-0-53-1(W1), Razzaq 10-0-41-3(Nb1), Saqlain 10-0-63-0(Nb2). Pakistan Saeed Anwar c Astle b Tuffey 2 Imran Nazir c Twose b Franklin 0 Saleem Elahi c Harris b Oram 13 Azhar Mahmood c Parore b Tuffey 0 Yousuf Youhana run out (Vincent) 6 Abdur Razzaq c Tuffey b Harris 31 Inzamam-ul-Haq c Vincent b Astle 37 Moin Khan c Harris b Astle 50 Wasim Akram c Twose b Astle 0 Saqlain Mushtaq not out 1 Waqar Younis Lbw b Tuffey 1 Extras: (Nb2,Lb3) 5 Total: (all out, 47 overs) 146 Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-2, 3-5, 4-15, 5-36, 6-71, 7-144, 8-144, 9-144 Bowling: Tuffey 9-1-30-3, Franklin 8-1-21-1(Nb2), Oram 7-1-21-1, Vettori 10-0-33-0, Harris 10-0-31-1, Astle 3-0-7-3.
Reuters |
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Stunning feats at “Rural Olympics” Kila Raipur, February 25 Under a gentle winter sun, some unbelievable and extraordinary feats were performed and the one that stood out was the feat of Nihang Mehtab Singh. The tall and sturdy
Nihang, attired in blue and yellow, proved that he was among a handful of horseriders whose rare gifts are anything but commonplace. Mehtab Singh, astride simultaneously on two horses, balanced himself perfectly and showing uncanny anticipation and clocklike precision, came down galloping, raising a lot of dust. The traditional full throated battle cry went up as he took aim of the peg with his lancer and in a fleeting moment majestically galloped away with the wooden peg. The crowd, initially stunned by the intensity and depth of the Nihang’s feat, suddenly went into raptures. Old timers commented that the Nihang’s Tent-Pegging performance was unmatched in recent years as his every act, every motion was in complete synchronisation with the horse. Indeed, one mistake, one slight miscalculation could have meant disaster. Dare devil feats being the order of the day, the focus shifted to the burly Bahadur Khan, a professional who pulls vehicles with his ears to earn his bread and butter. Yesterday, the young man’s dignity and sensitivity was hurt when the organisers unnecessarily postponed his event when he was all keyed up. Today, he came back roaring and stunned the packed stadium when he first pulled a car, then a tractor and finally delivered the ‘coup de grace’ by pulling a mini truck to a distance of 40 yards with ropes tied around his ears. The “Rural Olympics” throws up such unsung heroes but, unfortunately, Bahadur Khan who had come all the way from Malerkotla retured
emptyhanded. All he got was a deafening applause but no cash award. In the popular cart racing event, the smile on the face of favourite Bela Singh grew wider just like the gap bewteen him and the rest of the field. In today’s heats he once again exhibited command over the pair of bullocks and won with embarrassing ease to become the first man to enter the final. In hockey, a thoroughly professional performance by Ropar Hawks Academy enabled them to sail past Satgur Partap Academy by the odd goal in three while Punjab Police, Jagraon shocked fancied Harpal Club, Kila Raipur 1-0, though the home team did show signs of staging a fightback before caving in. With nearly more than a hundred events spread over just three days, a logistical nightmare awaited the organisers, but on their part they showed slick organisational skills to ensure that the ruralites savour each and every moment of the festival. |
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JCT go down to Air-India Ludhiana, February 25 Just when the Phagwara mill men were cruising along confidently after the dimunitive Hardip Gill and Jaswinder had put them ahead by 3-1, a curling free kick by star striker Anthony Fernandes which landed in the corner of the net shortly after the lemon break brought the Mumbai outfit back into the reckoning. And in the last 15 minutes, Air- India tilted the scales in a dramatic turn of events. First Taposh Ghosh converted a penalty which was awarded following defender Ranjit Singh’s foul on Anthony Fernandes to restore parity and then with hardly three minutes remaining for the long whistle, substitute Henry Picardo headed the ball home off a flag kick to compound the mill men’s misery. The victory, which incidentally was the second for Air-India, boosted their tally to nine points while winless JCT continue to lag behind with four points. For JCT, it was indeed a story of being so near and yet so far. The return of Jaswinder Singh after a long layoff transformed JCT into a fighting outfit and for a change their attacks seemed more purposeful.Jaswinder’s sprints and fine ball control threw the Air-India defence into disarray with striker Hardip Gill making most of the opportunities. But Air-India, despite missing the services of skipper Khalid Jamil, attacked relentlessly despite the setbacks and eventually carried the day in what was easily the best match of the league here so far. JCT escaped a flurry of Air-India attacks early on as Tomba Singh, P.J. Jose and Anthony Fernandes tested Arvind Kumar in rapid succession. After being at the receiving end for a short spell, JCT hit back with a fine move on the left flank by skipper Ram Pal whose quick pass for striker Hardip Gill saw the latter despatching a crisp right footer which gave MY Ansari under the Air-India bar absolutely no chance. Air-India managed to restore parity in the 28th minute when Anthony Fernandes took control of a loose ball inside the box and calmly placed it to the left of Arvind. But JCT striker Hardip Gill retaliated with another excellent move. After dodging past a couple of rival defenders on the right flank, he bulged the net with a firm right footer to put his side ahead by 2-1. Soon after a cross by Jaswinder from the corner nearly resulted in a goal but Harjinder’s header brought out the best in Air-India defender Osborn D’Souza who made a goal-line save. A minute before half-time, Jaswinder, the livewire of the JCT attack,scored a gem of a goal after Ram Pal centred from the left. The high lob missed Hardip Gill’s head before landing inside the box and Jaswinder’s reverse volley was bang on target (3-1). The second half saw a strong Air-India resurgence although Jaswant did test Ansari with some intelligent moves.Experienced defender Tarsem Lal of JCT warded off danger with some goal-line saves but the mill men’s citadel fell in the 75th minute following a free kick by Anthony Fernandes. The ball curled in before nestling in the left corner leaving Arvind stunned. Five minutes later JCT defender Ranjit Singh’s foul on Fernandes saw the referee pointing to the dreaded spot and Taposh Ghosh did not let the opportunity go waste by shooting to the right of Arvind (3-3). With hardly three minutes to go for the long whistle, Henry Picardo snatched the matched winner by heading home off a corner following an unsuccessful attempt by Herbert Philips to cast a pall of gloom in the JCT camp. |
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East Bengal carve out 2-0 win Kolkata, February 25 After being gifted with a same side goal midway through the opening session, substitute Sur Kumar Singh sealed the fate of their Mumbai opponents by pumping in a goal in the second half of an encounter which seldom rose to great heights. The local giants, who relied on an attacking brand of soccer, never really looked menacing in the face of a solid defence and it was only a self goal in the 36th minute of the contest which swung the fortunes in their favour. Mahindra’s Christopher Kem, in a desparate bid to avert danger, could not control his header as the ball sailed over custodian Virender Kumar and landed in the net much to the delight of the East Bengal supporters who cheered the team vociferously. Christopher’s gift served as a tonic for the home team as the players suddenly looked much more purposeful and cohesive and came dangerously close to the rival goalmouth. Substitute Sur Kumar Singh put the issue beyond doubt in the 33rd minute of the second session when he neatly deflected a crisp attempt from Dipankar Roy from inside the box. With this victory, East Bengal consolidated their position at the top of the points table, having secured 22 points from nine outings while Mahindra have just 10 points from as many matches. Handicapped by injuries to many of their key players, Mahindra expectedly resorted to a defensive game and succeeded in keeping the strong East Bengal strikers in a tight leash for most part of the opening session. The two Nigerian recruits in the Mahindra ranks — Christopher Kem and Habib Adenkule — gave very little room for manouvering inside their own zone which initially frustrated the home team strikers who were looking for an early goal. With striker Dipendu Biswas not taking the field due to an injury, East Bengal coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya deployed the other striker Bijen Singh in the first eleven but the generally nippy Bijen seemed to be totally off colour today. Bijen Singh could not really make much of an impact prompting Bhattacharya to bring in Srikanta Dutta to aid the other striker Omolaja Olalekin midway through the opening session. Leading by a solitary goal at the interval, the home team looked a little more convincing after the breather but the medios tended to latch on to the ball for far too long, giving the Mahindra defenders enough time to position themselves.
PTI |
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Mohun Bagan lose to Churchill Margao, February 25 Both the goals came in the second half through Igor Shkvrin in the 63rd minute and Andre Requena in the 89th minute for the winners. Bagan, who played with full steam in both halves today, failed in their acid test and conceded two goals while Zee Churchill avenged the two defeats they suffered at the hands of Bagan this season. With this win, Churchill boosted their tally to 11 points.
UNI |
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India, Germany clash in first Test today Mumbai, February 25 The Test matches are being held as part of the ongoing German festival in India. The remaining two matches will be played at Hyderabad (March 1) and Chennai (March 4). Expressing satisfaction in the way his team was grooming up for this match, Indian coach Cedric D’Souza said: “All the boys are fit and have shown a lot of commitment so far”. About his opponents, Cedric said: “They are a good side and we all know that perseverance is the biggest strength of Germans. I think it will be an exciting encounter”. Asked what he is looking at after having such a long camp and this match, Cedric, who replaced Vasudevan Baskaran as the head coach recently, said: “I am looking for the perfect combination before putting the team for World Cup qualifiers and the Champions Trophy. They are budding youngsters and I hope they will not prove me wrong”.
PTI |
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Code for
sportspersons, sports bodies
Hyderabad, February 25 Disclosing this to newsmen here today, Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Uma Bharathi said the decision to have a code of conduct was taken at a recent meeting she had with the Law Ministry and sports bodies. The details would be announced in Parliament tomorrow, she added. Emphasising the need to cleanse sports bodies in the country, she warned that anybody violating the code of conduct would be punished. Asked why the CBI had not questioned Australian Test player Mark Waugh, she said that the CBI had already probed into the matchfixing scandal from all angles. She also announced that plans were afoot to set up a sports academy in each state in the discipline in which that particular state excelled in order to make Indian sportsmen more competitive in international arena.
UNI |
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25 years of chair
umpiring Chandigarh, February 25 Bottone who paid his first visit to the city liked it the most among all other cities of India. In the past he had visited Ahmedabad twice and Mumbai thrice. Regarding the challenging job of umpiring which normally handles protests and other accusations between the players, he said that now he was quite accustomed to all such decisions. ‘First, the chair umpire has to solve the problem arising out of any match, only when he is not able to clear out the matter, I intervene’, said V.
Bottone. He said that in all these years a lot of change has been seen in the structure of the game. When asked, if any objection had been received from players during any match at the current ATP meet, Bottone replied that this was one of the best organised meets since no such things occurred, meaning thereby the conduct of the tournament was satisfactory.
Bottone said that in a year he travelled for more than 200 days and was doing the job on part-time basis for the ATP, the organisers of all such challenger meet. At the present meet Bottone was helped by four more umpires. Bottone said that Dr Vece Paes of Paes En Sport was the tournament director and had managed the tournament nicely.
Bottone said that tennis balls used here were of high quality with many players appreciating the same. Bottone said that tennis was now quite high tech and a number of web sites on the game had further worked for the growth of the sport. |
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Ashok sparkles in
North Zone A win New Delhi, February 25 North A tallied four-over 868, while North C finished at a distant second place with an aggregate of 910. Ashok Kumar (70), Keshav Mishra (74) and Sheeraz Kalra (76) were the main contributors to North A’s final day tally of 220. For the runners-up, Vikrant Chopra and Jasjeet Singh with 73 apiece and M.D. Wazir (76) got the fourth day’s aggregate of 222. Simarjeet Singh and Sandy Lchal were the fourth team members of the winners and runnners-up, respectively. Ashok Kumar weathered a determined fight by overnight joint-leader Keshav Mishra and Amit Luthra to win the Open Amateur Championship title with a tournament aggregate of two-under 286. Amit Luthra finished second, two strokes behind Ashok at level par 288, while the third spot was occupied by Keshav Mishra who tallied two-over 290. Captain of Noida Golf Club D.K. Arya, and Executive Director, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd Sanjay Krishnamurthy and Indian Golf Union’s Lakshman Singh gave away the prizes. |
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20 teams for DSA
Lague New Delhi, February 25 Defending champions Delhi Audit head Group I which has the Reserve Bank of India, Urban Development Ministry, Employees State Insurance Corporation and Band of India as other teams. Last year’s runners-up Food Corporation of India (North Zone) spearhead Group II, comprising Oriental Bank, Delhi Customs, Delhi Development Authority and New Delhi Municipal Corporation. Group III is composed of Northern Railway, Central Sett., Delhi Administration, Delhi Transport Corporation and Indian Airlines while Group IV includes Punjab National Bank, Zakir Hussain College, FCI (Headquarters), Delhi Vidyut Board and All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Dharmender, Punpreet
best athletes Patiala, February 25
The Director of the Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, Dr D.J. Singh, distributed the prizes to the winners and urged them to develop a killer instinct if they wished to excel at the international level. He also urged the students to develop physical, social, emotional and intellectual aspects of their personality. The Principal, Dr Kanwaljit Singh, welcomed the guests. Mr Satnam Singh, chief librarian of the Musafir Memorial Central State Library, was the chief guest. The results are: Races: 800 m (men) — Amrinder Singh 1, Dharmender 2, and Gulab Singh 3; high jump (men) — Jasvir Singh 1, Sandeep Singh 2, Nirmal Singh 3; discus throw (girls) — Ramandeep Kaur 1, Savarnjeet Kaur 2, Anita 3; 200 m (girls) — Punpreet 1, Harpreet 2, Anita 3; long jump (girls) — Divya 1, Sandeep 2, Harsimran 3; high jump (girls) — Anupama 1, Renu 2, Babita 3; long jump (boys) — Jabvir Singh 1, Dharmender 2, Nitin 3; discus throw (boys) — Suhansarjeet 1, Arvinder Singh 2, Nirmal Singh 3; shot put (boys) — Arvinder 1, Nirmal Singh 2, Dharmender 3; 400 m (girls) — Sandeep 1, Punpreet 2, Beenu Bali 3; 400 m (boys) — Gulab Singh 1, Harwinder Singh 2, Sandeep Singh 3; 200 m (boys) — Dharmender 1, Gulab Singh 2, Amrinder Singh 3; shot put (girls) — Rajnita 1, Ramandeep 2, Bindu 3; 100 m (girls) — Babita 1, Punpreet 2, Sandeep 3; 100 m (boys) — Dharminder 1, Gulab Singh
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