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April 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Baroda
wipe out 1st innings deficit West
Indies remain in firm control
Lucky day
for Indians in Dubai chess meet |
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M Islam claims record figures Malik
reported for suspect action India-Pak
series under cloud Ganguly
retained captain for Zimbabwe tour
Hingis,
Capriati on course for final Rahman
gears up to face Lewis
Arazi enters final JCT stun
Tollygunge 2-1 Athletes
discuss rules changes
Samuel Banerjee badminton from May 16 Ex-NRAI
chief Sethi dead
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Baroda wipe out 1st innings deficit Baroda, April 21 Baroda were helped by a brilliant
unbeaten 98 by opener Satyajit Parab as they reached a solid total
after Murli Kartik had showed his prowess with the bat to enable
Railways score 394 in their first innings and take a lead of 151 runs
over Baroda’s score of 243. Baroda now enjoy a 32-run lead with
eight wickets in hand and two days of play left. Parab and Connor
Williams laid a strong foundation for the hosts with a 102-run opening
wicket stand after Railways were out 45 minutes before
lunch. Railways, 26 without loss at lunch, added 72 runs from 27 in
the second session with both their batsmen looking good. Williams was
the first wicket to fall when he edged an outgoing delivery from
Tejinderpal Singh to Sanjay Bangar after making 41. Nayan Mongia
tried to hasten the scoring in the final session of play as he
attempted a few unorthodox shots. But he could not stay for long and
was caught by Harvinder Singh off Kartik for 15. This was Kartik’s
first success in the match after the left-arm spinner went wicketless
in the first innings. Baroda captain Jacob Martin then joined Parab
and the two saw through the day without any further damage. Martin was
unbeaten on nine when the day’s play came to a close. Parab, whose
291-minute knock was studded with 10 boundaries, was a picture of
patience and composure as he handled both the medium pacers and the
spinners with equal ease. Towards the end of the day he tried to
hurry through to his century but was still short of two runs when
stumps were drawn for the day after 66 overs in Railways’ second
innings. Earlier, Kartik’s career-best 79 and his record 113-run
stand for the ninth wicket with Kulamani Parida helped Railways to 394
all out in their first innings. Resuming at the overnight 318 for
eight, Kartik and Parida took the score to 359 before Kartik’s
valiant knock came to an end. He was stumped by Mongia off Ajit Bhoite
for 79 that came off 135 balls and contained seven fours in it. Parida,
who matched his partner stroke for stroke and hit four fours and a
six, added another 35 runs for the 10th wicket with Harvinder Singh
before being caught by Irfan Pathan off Valmik Buch for 47. Harvinder
Singh remained unbeaten 17. Railways failed to cross 400 runs-mark
for the first time this season. In their earlier seven matches before
this final, they had scored more than 400 runs in their first innings.
Parida, who was suffering from a ligament problem, was sent to the
hospital for an x-ray. Team manager Vinod Sharma clarified that the
injury was not serious and Parida would play tomorrow. Zaheer Khan
and Buch claimed three wickets each conceding 93 and 36 runs,
respectively while Bhoite took two for 67. Scoreboard Baroda
(1st
innings): 243 Railways (1st innings): A.Pagnis b Patel 7, S.Bangar
c Jadhav b Zaheer Khan 62, Tejinderpal Singh lbw b Bhoite 67, Y Goud c
Martin b Buch 65, A.Sharma lbw b Khan 8, S.Khanorkar c Bhoite b Patel
4, S.Sahu lbw b Buch 0, S.Wankhede lbw b Zaheer Khan 14, M.Kartik st
Mongia b Bhoite 79, K.Parida c I.Pathan b Buch 47, Harvinder Singh not
out 17. Extras (lb 11, nb 13) 24. Total: 394 Fall of wickets:
1-17, 2-108, 3-196, 4-206, 5-216, 6-221, 7-240, 8-246,
9-359. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 37-10-92-3, Patel 25.2-9-49-2, Pathan (Jr)
15.4-1-85-0, Buch 39-15-86-3, Bhoite 16-1-64-2, Arothe 2-0-7-0.
Baroda (2nd innings): C.Williams c Bangar b Tejinderpal Singh 41,
S.Parab batting 98, N.Mongia c Harvinder b Kartik 15, J.Martin batting
9. Extras (b-5, lb-2, nb-13) 20. Total (for 2 wkts, 66 overs)
183 Fall of wickets: 1-102, 2-143. Bowling: Harvinder Singh
12-2-35-0, S. Bangar 17-8-35-0, M. Kartik 21-4-55-1, S.Kanolkar 1-0-6-0,
T. P. Singh 15-0-45-1. PTI |
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West
Indies remain in firm control
Kingston, April 21 Added to their first innings lead of 84 runs earned on the second day after dismissing South Africa for just 141, the home side led by 157 runs overall with eight wickets in hand at lunch. Leon Garrick fell to a superb spell of fast bowling from Allan Donald, who worked the right-hander out cleverly with three different-paced bouncers before the perfect leg-cutter found the edge and carried to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher. Garrick hooked at the first, medium-paced, bouncer and played too early, edging it just over his stumps. Opening partner Chris Gayle walked down the pitch from the non-striker’s end to calm his fellow Jamaican but the next ball was a repeat bouncer, much faster, and Garrick hooked again and missed. The third delivery was also short and a shaken Garrick allowed it to pass but the fourth ball reared off a length just outside off stump and left the bat as Garrick lunged forward. He made 27 from 75 balls with two boundaries following his first-ball duck in the first innings. Shivnarine Chanderpaul became the second victim of the session when Justin Kemp bowled an away swinger to the left-hander which also caught a thin edge and carried low down to Daryll Cullinan at first slip. Gayle, after a sequence of poor shots in the series had resulted in him being caught in the arc between wicketkeeper and gully in seven out of nine innings, batted with painful caution to score just 13 runs in the session. He did not score for over an hour while facing 38 balls in the middle of the session. Brian Lara, too, batted with extreme caution at the start of his innings, reaching a patient 10 not out at lunch. Gayle was unbeaten on 23. Earlier a sensational fightback by the West Indies saw them dismiss series winners South Africa for a feeble 141 on the second day. Defending their own modest first innings score of 225, the home side earned a shock lead of 84 which had been extended to 118 runs by the close of play. Openers Leon Garrick (21 not out) and Chris Gayle (10 not out) started the second innings to 34 without loss at close of play yesterday. South Africa may have already won the series with their unassailable 2-0 lead but the home side undoubtedly restored some of their badly dented pride as South Africa collapsed. Mervyn Dillon claimed four wickets and Courtney Walsh three as the tourists succumbed to the home side’s three-pronged pace attack in which Cameron Cuffy also played a significant role with two top order wickets. Opener Gary Kirsten edged Walsh to Gayle at third slip to depart for his third duck in five innings and Herschelle Gibbs (18) edged Cuffy to wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs in the first over after lunch. Daryll Cullinan (6) began the innings just 65 runs short of 500 for the series but attempted an ambitious back foot cover drive and succeeded only in edging the ball to first slip where Brian Lara held a fine, low catch. Jacques Kallis (17) continued his run of bad luck with an unusual caught and bowled dismissal that saw the ball loop back to Dillon via an inside edge and the batsman’s pad. Lance Klusener, who has averaged exactly four runs in the series prior to the fifth Test, lofted leg spinner Dinanath Ramnarine for a straight six as he attempted to play himself back into form but Walsh slipped the perfect leg cutter through his defences to uproot off stump and dismiss him for 13. Neil McKenzie, meanwhile, batted with perfect composure and proved as his team mates found new ways to get themselves out. Mark Boucher (13) savagely hooked a Walsh bouncer to forward square leg where Garrick held an extraordinary catch while Pollock (24) was dismissed for just the third time in the series by wafting and edging Dillon to wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs. His innings included consecutive pull shots against Cuffy that earned 10 runs to the midwicket boundary. McKenzie’s fluent 45 from 99 balls ended with a missed sweep shot against leg spinner Dinanath Ramnarine which resulted in a successful lbw appeal and Dillon quickly wrapped the innings up before South Africa could mount a tail-end fightback. SCOREBOARD West Indies (Ist innings):
225 South Africa (Ist innings): H. Gibbs c Jacobs b Cuffy 18 G. Kirsten c Gayle b Walsh 0 J. Kallis c and b Dillon 17 D. Cullinan c Lara b Cuffy 6 N. Mckenzie lbw b Ramnarine 45 L. Klusener b Walsh 13 M. Boucher c Garrick b Walsh 13 S. Pollock c Jacobs b Dillon 24 J. Kemp c Walsh b Dillon 0 A. Donald not out 1 P. Adams c Hooper b Dillon 3 Extras:
(w-1) 1 Total: (all out) 141 Fall
of wickets: 1-9, 2-24, 3-35, 4-51, 5-77, 6-97, 7-137, 8-137, 9-137. Bowling:
Walsh 18-8-31-3, Cuffy 17-6-58-2, Dillon 15.1-5-32-4 (w-1), Ramnarine 11-4-20-1. Reuters West Indies (2nd innings):
(overnight 34-0) Garrick c Boucher b Donald 27 Gayle not out 23 Chanderpaul c Cullinan b Kemp 7 Lara not out 10 Extras
(b-2 lb-2 w-1 nb-1) 6 Total (for 2 wickets, 46 overs) 73 Fall of wickets:
1-47, 2-55 Bowling (to date): Donald 12-5-26-1 (w-1) Pollock 12-5-19-0 (nb-1), Kallis 9-3-15-0, Adams 4-3-2-0, Kemp 7-6-4-1, Klusener
2-1-3-0. Reuters
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Lucky day for Indians in Dubai chess meet Dubai, April 21 Overall, Indians had a good day here yesterday as double GM norm holder Sandipan
Chanda, IM Neelotpal Das and Rahul Shetty scored wins while IM elect T S Ravi made a superb come back to hold Uzbek GM Marat
Dzhumaev. IM R B Ramesh was the only one to lose going down to GM Aleksij Aleksandrov of
Belarus. Kunte played his pet paulsen sicilian and did not face much difficulty in getting a level position. After a couple of routine exchanges, both players agreed for a draw. Kunte now has 3.5 points. Armenian GM Karen Asrian shot into sole leadw on 4.5 points with a finely crafted victory over GM Valerij Fillipov of Russia. Asrian is closely followed by three players GM’s Alexei Federov of Belarus, Jaan Ehlvest of Estonia and Drazen Sermak of Slovenia are with 4 points each. Twentyfour players including
Kunte, share the next spot with 3.5 points each. Chanda bounced back into reckoning with a workmanlike victory over lowly rated Akbar Alibaev of Uzbekistan from the white side of a French advance game. He got into the groove right away and pushed pawns on both flanks to wrest the
initiative. Akbar felt the pressure and strove for counterplay on the king side and Chanda traded the queens to romp home and took his tally to 3 points with this victory. Candidate IM Dinesh Kumar Sharma quickly disposed the challenge of lowly rated Shabash Abdullateif of Lebanon. Playing black Shabash employed the sicilian defence and was up against the Richter Rauzer attack of Dinesh targetting the king. Dinesh successfully foiled Shabash’s bid for counterplay on the queen side with a tactical trap that netted him a piece on the 24th move and Shabash resigned immediately. IM-elect T S Ravi came back from the jaws of defeat to hold GM Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan in a pirc defence game with white
pieces. Dzhumave’s resourceful play on both flanks, however, ensured counterplay and Ravi’s tactical finesse involving a rook sacrifice met with the correct reposte and the game was steered to a queen and pawns endgame where Dzhumaev won a pawn. Ravi held on to his own in an inferior position and capitalised on a few errors to get the draw after 72 moves. Another IM-in-waiting Rahul Shetty scored a convincing victory over Hassan Mohammed Seif of UAE from the black side of a king’s Indian attack game. Shetty cashed in on a tactical oversight by his opponent in the middlegame and won a pawn to force the issue in 44 moves. IM R B Ramesh suffered a setback when he went down to GM Aleksij Aleksandrov of Belarus in the Berlin defence game with white pieces. Ramesh got a slightly better position after the opening phase but could not keep the momentum going. Aleksandrov struck in the centre in copy book fashion and after exchanging all but one minor piece, became a pawn plus. IM Neelotpal Das rose from a rather subdued start to score a comprehensive victory over Akhavan Rad of Iran in an off-beat variation against the king’s Indian defence with white pieces while double IM norm holder C S Gokhale outplayed Javanmard Bahram of Iran in an irregular opening with black pieces. Important results round 5: Valerij Filippov (3) lost to Karen Asrian (4.5), Ashot Anastasian (3+) lost to Alexei Fedorov (4) Baadur Jobava (3) lost to Jaan Ehlvest (4), Evgeny Vladimirov (3.5) drew Igor Glek (3.5), Alexander Motylev (3.5) drew Abhijit Kunte (3.5), Andre Shariyazdanov (3.5) drew Artashes Minasian (3.5), Mihail Kobalija (3.5) drew Valeriy Neverov (3.5), Goran Dizdar (3.5) drew Alexey Kuzmin (3.5), Evgeny Pigusov (3.5) drew Dusko Pavasovic (3.5), Yuri Yakovich (3.5) drew Alexander Galkin (3.5), Alexander Volzhin (3.5) drew Pavel Kotsur (3.5), Drazan Sermek (4) bt Evgeny Sveshnikov (3), Shukhrat Safin (3.5) drew Zurab Sturua (3), Andrei Kharlov (3+) bt Fouad El Taher (2+), R B Ramesh (2+) lost to Aleksej Alexandrov (3+), Elmar Magerramov (3+) bt Shojaat Ghane (2+), Taher Vakhidov (2+) lost to Maxim Sorokin (3+), T S Ravi (3) drew Marat Dzhumaev (3), Srdjan Sale (2+) lost to Mohamad
Al-Modiahki (3+), Ehsan Maghami Ghaem (2) lost to Raouf Gadjily (3.5), Aris Ozolin (2.5) Drew Sergey Arkhipov (2.5), Sandipan Chanda (3) bt Akbar Alibaev (2), Dinesh K Sharma (3) beat Abdullatief Shabash (2), Neelotpal Das (2+) beat Rad Akhavan (1+), Mohammed Seif Hasan Seif (1+) lost to Rahul Shetty (2+), Bahram G Javanmard (1+) lost to C S Gokhale (2+).
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M Islam claims record figures Bulawayo, April 21 Earlier Zimbabwe were bowled out for 457 as Bangladesh fast bowler Manjural Islam completed record figures for his country. Although Manjural took six for 81, bettering the six for 132 off-spinner Naimur Rahman took in Bangladesh’s inaugural Test against India in November, Zimbabwe secured a first-innings lead of 200. Zimbabwe resumed in the morning on 287 for five, and Manjural Islam struck 30 minutes before lunch when Heath Streak was caught in the covers for his highest Test score of 67. The wicket ended a partnership of 120 for the sixth wicket between Streak and Grant Flower which began just after tea yesterday. Debutant Andy Blignaut took guard after Streak’s dismissal and sent Manjural Islam’s next delivery looping back to the bowler for a first ball duck. Zimbabwe reached lunch on 357 for seven, but six overs into the afternoon session Flower hooked a delivery from medium pacer Hasibul Hussain to Mohammed Sharif at fine leg to be dismissed for 68. Mluleki Nkala became Manjural Islam’s sixth victim when his hook shot looped to stand-in wicketkeeper Mehrab Hossain. Nkala, whose 47 was his highest Test score, shared a stand of 56 runs for the ninth wicket with Brian Murphy. The innings ended when Murphy, on 30, also his highest score, was caught at forward short leg by Habibul Bashar off Naimur Rahman. Bangladesh’s day began badly when wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud fractured his ankle during the warm-up and Mehrab Hossain took over the gloves. Scoreboard: Bangladesh (1st innings): 257 Zimbabwe (1st innings): (287-5 overnight) G. Whittall c Sharif b Hussain 119 Ebrahim c Mashud b Islam 2 Carlisle b Islam 3 Campbell c Mashud b Sharif 19 A.Flower c Rahman b Islam 73 G.Flower c Sharif b Hussain 68 Streak c sub (Rafique) b Islam 67 Blignaut c and b Islam 0 Nkala c Hossain b Islam 47 Murphy c Bashar b Rahman 30 Watambwa not out 4 Extras (b-2 lb-10 nb-12 w-1) 25 Total (all out, 138.4 overs) 457 Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-27, 3-66, 4-215, 5-233, 6-353, 7-353, 8-389, 9-445. Bowling: Hussain 30-7-125-2, M Islam 35-13-81-6, Sharif 29-3-112-1, Rahman 20-4-53-0, Rahman 24.4-7-74-1. Bangladesh (2nd innings): Omar not out 47 Hossain b Streak 0 Bashar c Murphy b Watambwa 24 Islam not out 10 Extras (lb-1 nb-4 w-5) 10 Total (for two wickets, 26 overs) 91 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-61 Bowling (to date): Streak 7-1-24-1, Blignaut 4-0-21-0, Nkala 5-0-21-0, Watambwa 6-2-15-1, Murphy 4-1-9-0.
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Malik reported for suspect action Sharjah, April 21 The referee, in a statement released on Saturday, said Malik’s action was suspect and a report has been sent to the Pakistan team management and the International Cricket Council (ICC). Justice Ibrahim refused to reveal the name of the umpire who had reported the matter. The triangular series, involving Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, was supervised by New Zealand’s Dough Cowie, who reported Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar recently, David Orchard of South Africa and England’s John Hampshire. Ijaz Fakih, Iqbal Sikander and Mohsin Qadir are the members of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s review panel, who will examine footage of Malik’s action in the Sharjah tournament and the report submitted by Justice Ibrahim. Since Malik has not been reported before, he can continue playing. Pakistan are due to announce their squad on Monday for the two-Test tour of England which starts next month.
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India-Pak series under cloud Karachi, April 21 According to sources, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is not interested in sending their team to Dubai, though both Indian and UAE officials have expressed hope that the series would take place this year. Reza Abidi, a UAE hockey committee official, was quoted as saying that the PHF and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) officials would be meeting in Dubai shortly to “work out the arrangements.” Once the terms and conditions are finalised, the series will be held later this year. The last series between the two countries was held almost three years back. But since then, political tensions between the two neighbours has made it impossible to hold the series on an home-and-away basis as in the past. The series was earlier planned for April-May this year but was later postponed after the organisers failed to complete the arrangements. India has already given its approval for the series and the organisers are now expecting Pakistani to follow suit.
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Ganguly retained captain for Zimbabwe tour Vadodara, April 21 Ganguly’s appointment after the country’s good showing against the Australians was a forgone conclusion. The Indian captain is expected here tomorrow to help the selectors pick up the 22 probables for the Zimbabwe tour. However, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jaywant Lele said Ganguly had been named captain for the Zimbabwean tour only and the captain for the Sri Lanka tour from the end of July will be picked on the team’s completion of the tour. In Zimbabwe, India play a two-Test series followed by a triangular one-day series in which the West Indies will be the third country. The last time India toured Zimbabwe, they lost the one-off Test and on the return tour here, Zimbabwe lost the two Test series 0-1. The first Test will begin on June 7 and the final of the one-day triangular series is scheduled for the second week of July.
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Hingis, Capriati on course for final Charleston (South Carolina), April 21 Hingis, the world’s top-ranked player, survived a first-set scare to snap the 16-match winning streak of seventh seed Amelie Mauresmo of France to advance 7-5, 6-2. Capriati, the second seed, struggled in the first set but moved up a gear in the second to overcome unseeded Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 7-5, 6-4. “I felt like even though I was the number one player out there, she was the one who had to move to prove,’’ said Hingis, who defeated Mauresmo in a heated Australian Open final in 1999. “Even though she won three tournaments in a row, she still hasn’t beaten any of the top players,’’ Hingis added. Serving at 5-5 in the first set, Hingis was in trouble as she fell behind 15-40. She rallied to deuce, then faced another breakpoint before winning three straight points for a 6-5 lead. Mauresmo double-faulted on the first point of the 12th game and Hingis closed out the first set with a service break. “It was very hard in the beginning,’’ said Hingis, who has now won 13 straight matches at this tournament, including title wins in 1997 and 1999. Mauresmo, now ranked ninth in the world, blamed her errors as the difference between the two players. “I made too many unforced errors at the important points to have any hope of winning this one,’’ she said. Capriati, the fifth-ranked player in the world, had all she could handle in 25-year-old Russian Elena Likhovtseva, who had upset seeded players in her last two matches. Likhovtseva was two points from winning the first set while serving at 5-4, 30-30, but Capriati lunged in to come up with a passing shot off a Likhovtseva volley to gain control of the game. A close baseline call went against the unseeded Likhovtseva at 30-30 in the next game, allowing Capriati to move into position to claim the first set as Likhovtseva appeared to lose focus for a couple of points. By the time Likhovtseva regained her form, Capriati had a one-set lead. Likhovtseva missed a golden opportunity to take a 4-1 lead in the second set when she sailed a high backhand volley long on an easy put-away at the net when she led 40-15. She recovered enough to make it 4-2 before mistakes and impatience turned on her as Capriati’s deep, penetrating ground strokes wore Likhovtseva down. Capriati won the next four games to close out the match in just under two hours. “When she’s on, she’s really tough to play,’’ Capriati said. “It was like that today, a little bit up and down, but I think I played well.’’ Capriati’s semi-final opponent on
Saturday will be unseeded 21-year-old Marlene Weingartner of Germany, who upset former champion and fourth-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa 6-4 7-6 (7-3). Former two-time champion Conchita Martinez of Spain faced 10th seed Amy Frazier of the USA in a night game to decide the other quarterfinal.
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Rahman gears
up to face Lewis Johannesburg, April 21 Lewis tipped the scales two pounds heavier than his previous highest weight at yesterday’s weigh-in and will now enjoy a hefty 16-pound advantage over the shorter, lighter Rahman for the bout at Carnival City’s big top. If Rahman’s supporters had been hoping to see evidence that Lewis has been taking his training lightly following his time spent acting in a Hollywood movie earlier this month, they will have been disappointed. The 35-year-old British champion looked in impressive shape at the weigh in, backing up his camp’s claims that any extra poundage was down to gains in pure muscle bulk. Even without the weight advantage Lewis already had sizeable advantages in height and reach. Now 20-1 underdog Rahman must handle the fact that his opponent’s punches will be packing even more power than normal. Rahman has been ultra-confident during the build-up to the fight and has insisted that he will not be intimidated by Lewis’ sheer size and the formidable arsenal of punches at his disposal. The 28-year-old Rahman has said he won’t freeze in the way that previous Lewis opponents such as Michael Grant and Andrew Golota had done. Both Grant and Golota suffered early knockout defeats. Lewis was only too willing to start the mental mind games earlier yesterday, stating his belief that he expected Rahman’s nerve to crumble as the bell for the first round approached. “What does he think he can accomplish what other boxers couldn’t?” Lewis said. “Evander Holyfield, who is the most technically gifted boxer out there, couldn’t and neither could Michael Grant. Rahman is supposed to be good; he’s pretty big but doesn’t punch big. He has never seen a boxer like me. “He’s a good, two dimensional fighter and knows how to take punches. He’s definitely got a good right-hand punch and he says he’s not going to freeze, but they change their minds after they get hit. “Once you get in the ring you realise the other person wants to hurt you. I look at boxing as a sport and I like to score points. If he hits me once, I hit him three times. Each boxer I fight, there is always a way to eat them. I’ve never boxed the same way twice,” Lewis added. Rahman, who has nothing like former Olympic champion Lewis’ boxing pedigree, has repeatedly said he was ready to step up in class and pull off what would be an amazing upset. “I truly believe I’m going to be champion of the world” Rahman, 34-2, said. “Whatever he hits me with I’ll be ready, and I’ll hit him back with it. There’s no quit, believe that,” he added. “When I get in that ring he’s not Lennox Lewis, champion of the world, he’s just Lennox Lewis, another man. “I can’t focus on what this guy has done to other people. He’s never fought another person like me,” said Rahman.
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Arazi enters final Monte Carlo, April 21 Arazi reached his first ever Masters Series final after a one hour 31 minutes contest in which he chose his moment to steer past his opponent after a tight contest saw him go 2-4 down in the first set after his French opponent made the more confident start on a cloudy centre court. But the Moroccan dug in and rallied to take four games on a roll to wrap up the first set and from then on Australian Open semifinalist Grosjean was fighting an uphill battle. In the second set Arazi, conqueror of Britain’s Tim Henman in the previous round as well as defending champion Cedric Pioline of France and Swedish third seed Magnus Norman, tightened his grip on the contest after shrugging off a Grosjean break for 1-0. Arazi now faces the winner of the other semifinal between Brazilian second seed Gustavo Kuerten and Argentine teen Guillermo Coria in Sunday’s final. Arazi, (27), based in the principality, broke straight back and then took the Grosjean serve once more to motor into a 5-3 lead against an opponent standing second only to Andre Agassi in the ATP Champions Race. Grosjean secured the early break in the second for 1-0 but Arazi, currently ranked 53 on the ATP entry system to Grosjean’s 15, broke back and then took the Frenchman’s serve once more for a 5-3 lead. But Grosjean was not about to surrender. He broke again aided by a net cord only to drop serve in the 10th game and see his challenge evaporate as Arazi sent down a backhand winner, having spurned his first match point with a backhand which plopped into the net.
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JCT stun Tollygunge 2-1 Kolkata, April 21 After a barren opening session, the Punjab outfit conceded the first goal but turned the table on the home team with two strikes in quick succession with medio Jaswinder Singh and forward Hardip Gill finding the target in a match which seldom rose to great heights. Tollygunge were a pale shadow of themselves in the lacklustre opening session but took control of the game in the 65th minute with striker Emeka Achilefu producing a superb goal after fellow striker Abdulateef Seriki had done all the spadework. Seriki dodged past a host of defenders before passing to an unmarked Emeka inside the box who found the net with a crisp volley, giving no chance at all to the JCT custodian Arvind Kumar. But the euphoria was shortlived as the visitors found the equaliser 11 minutes later through the hard-working Jaswinder Singh while forward Hardip Gill sealed the fate of the home team in the 79th minute of the contest. With this surprise victory, JCT, who have been trying to avoid relegation, have secured 19 points from 20 encounters while Tollygunge remained static on 23 from 21 matches. Tollygunge, who were eager to pick up full points from this home match, had themselves to blame for the debacle as they tended to fall into a defensive groove after scoring the goal. JCT, on the other hand, lifted their game by several notches after conceding the goal and it was mainly due to the efforts of Jaswinder Singh that the visitors managed to carve out the victory. Jaswinder fetched the equaliser with a swerving volley from the edge of the box following a measured centre from substitute Jaspreet Singh from the left flank as the Tollygunge defenders were found napping. Jaswinder was responsible for creating the move for Hardip Gill to score the match-winning goal as he broke through the defence with deft footwork and back-centred to Gill lurking inside the box.
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Athletes
discuss rules changes Patiala, April 21 Prominent among the changes, which are being introduced by the IAAF to save time, that runners who make a false start will face instant disqualification. Long jumpers, triple jumpers and throwers would also be allowed a maximum of four attempts instead of six and pole vaulters and high jumpers will be allowed two attempts at each height instead of six attempts. Most of the discussions revolve around the abolition of the false start rule for sprinters. The false start rule in being done off with as such ‘unwarranted’ starts not only disrupt others concentration but also lead to organisers changing meet timetables. Athletes competing in field events are also averse to the idea of reducing the number of throws and attempts for pole vaulters and jumpers. |
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Samuel Banerjee badminton from May 16 Chandigarh, April 21 Aggarwal, who was UT women’s badminton champion nine times said the proposed meet would be held under the new scoring system of 5x7, which was going to be formally operational from June 1 in all tournaments under the International Badminton Federation. The first edition of the Samuel Banerjee tournament was organised three years ago at Panjab University gymnasium hall. Players from north India had taken part. Samuel Banerjee was the Sports Editor, The Tribune, and had great love for badminton, said Geeta Aggarwal. Enteries close with secretary CBPWA at PU gymnasium hall on May 7. |
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Ex-NRAI chief Sethi dead New Delhi, April 21 Sethi, whose 100th birthday was celebrated in November last year, is survived by three sons and three daughters, according to a press note here. After holding various posts in the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for many years, Sethi was made its life President on June 1, 1985.
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