 |
|
| Monday,
April 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
China win men’s team
title Thrilling victory for West
Indies Zimbabwe grab quick
wickets
Akram in squad for England
tour I’ll fight Tyson when I am ready:
Rahman |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
NFL: It’s do or die for JCT
today Must-win situation for
Bagan Mahindras hold
Tollygunge Nitin, Amit for
NZCA Indonesia beat
Cambodia Suman wins title
|
|
China win men’s team title Osaka, April 29 In an unequal contest, China’s Ma Lin, Liu Guozheng and Kong Linghui, all top five players, won 3-0 against the Belgians, who had not previously even reached a semifinal and never really threatened. The title follows the women’s team gold China took the previous day and keeps them on course for a probable clean sweep of all the golds at the event in Osaka. However, this prize was a particularly sweet one for the Chinese, who had narrowly lost the Swaythling Cup, the men’s trophy, to arch-foes Sweden at the previous world championships. Chinese coach Cai Zhenhua said afterwards he was “really happy to get the cup back”. “The reason we could get the Swaythling Cup back was not just technique, we had fighting spirit, very good fighting spirit,” he said as star-struck Chinese journalists pressed his players for autographs. However, Sydney Olympic champion Kong expressed one note of regret; that the triumph had not come as revenge against the Swedes, whom Belgium defeated in their semifinal. “I wish we could have played Sweden, of course I am sorry they lost against Belgium,” he said. Although Belgium fought hard in every match, trading smashes and hurling themselves about the court, as player Philippe Saive admitted it was their “stupid little mistakes” which proved the vital difference between the teams. But after the final the Belgian side, grinning widely, said they were very happy to have made it as far as they did. “I think most of all for Belgium just this is really a fantastic result, second in the world,” said Philippe’s team-mate and brother Jean-Michel Saive, adding: “No one expected for our team to play as well in the tournament”. Philippe Saive added: “I had really a great feeling today, I was really enjoying the moment.” Jean-Michel, a flamboyant player with an odd fondness for tucking the bottom of his shorts inside themselves to the top of his thigh, making it look as if he is leaping about the court in a large black nappy, took Belgium’s only game, the very first. By far the team’s best player, when he lost the next two games and thus the rubber to Ma Lin, there was no way back for the Belgians. China even had the luxury of dropping a world No 1, 22-year-old Wang Liqin, whose confidence had appeared to suffer after a quarterfinal loss and was also left out of the semifinal. The difference in status was emphasised in the final rubber when Kong, ranked second in the world, took on Martin Bratanov, position 105. Bratanov later summed up their predicament concisely. “It was really not so easy because China are much better than us,” he said with a smile. Meanwhile, India impressed with their overall showing with Poulami Ghatak winning her singles playoff and men advancing to the main draw of the doubles event. Ghatak eased past Lyanne Kosaka of Brazil with a 21-13, 21-15 victory in a group 14 league match. Soumyadeep Roy combined with Subhajit Saha to notch up a victory against Ianiv Sharon and Ohad Paniel of Israel in the final league match to qualify for the main draw. After conceding the first game rather tamely, the Indian duo rallied to win the three-game match 6-21, 21-9, 21-16. Earlier, the duo defeated Elis Rondon and Jonathan Pino of Venezuela in another three-game match 21-19, 22-24, 21-12. But Saha, who teamed up with M.S. Mythili in the mixed doubles, failed to sustain the momentum and went down to Uros Slatinsek and Martina Safran of Slovenia 21-7, 21-12. In the women’s doubles, Svetlana Ganina and Irina Kotikhina of Russia beat Ghatak and Mouma Das 21-15, 21-11. Ghatak later teamed up with Shibaji Datta to beat Lao Wai-Meng and Tam Sut-Fei of Macau 22-20, 21-10 in a mixed doubles encounter. They will now meet Italians Chen Yu Wei and Ding Yan who beat Alejandro Rodriguez/Patricia Alvarez of Chile 21-13, 20-22, 21-9. A win against the Italians will ensure India a place in the main draw. AFP |
|
Thrilling victory for West Indies Kingston, (Jamaica), April 29 The home side began the last over requiring eight runs to take a 1-0 lead in the seven-match one-day series and Mervyn Dillon claimed a single off the first ball to bring the target down to seven runs from five deliveries. Jacobs could only scramble a leg bye off the next and the tourists began to look favourites when Dillon missed the third to leave the West Indies needing six runs from three balls. But Dillon worked a single off the fourth to return the burly Jacobs to the striker’s end with five needed from the final two balls. The left-hander stepped outside his off stump and swung Donald out to deep square leg for two, leaving three needed from the last ball. Donald offered a wide full toss outside off stump to prevent Jacobs playing the same shot, but instead he carved the ball to the backward point boundary to win the match amid uncontained scenes of delight from a capacity crowd of almost 15,000. A superb half-century from Brian Lara (54) — he shared a fourth wicket stand of 89 with Carl Hooper (43) —put the West Indies in control as they reached 149 for three chasing a modest 201 for victory. But brilliant bowling and fielding from the tourists created extreme pressure for the batsmen, who suddenly found the runs drying up with Jonty Rhodes in sparkling form at backward point. Rhodes held two breathtaking catches in that position to remove Lara and opener Chris Gayle but his efforts were to prove in vain as the home side built on the momentum they gained by winning the fifth Test on the same ground five days before. Earlier, West Indian spinners Neil McGarrell, Hooper and Marlon Samuels shared seven wickets as South Africa failed to capitalise on a series of positive starts with four of their top five batsmen scoring between 21 and 38. A youthful home side, containing just four players over 30, produced a disciplined bowling performance, with excellent fielding to back it up. Lara’s stunning run out of Herschelle Gibbs (8) in the third over set the tone. Lara swooped at backward point to dismiss the opener with a direct hit at the non-striker’s end after Gibbs, who was leading run scorer in the Test series, had driven Dillon for successive boundaries in the first over. Jacques Kallis (23) was superbly caught by a sprinting Cameron Cuffy at long off after driving McGarrell’s left arm spin into the deep and Gary Kirsten’s patient 38 from 63 balls ended when he deflected a sweep against Hooper’s off spin onto his leg stump. Neil McKenzie (21) danced down the pitch to fast bowler Cuffy but edged an attempted straight drive to wicketkeeper Jacobs to break the sequence of spinners’ wickets, although the slow bowlers were soon back in business. Rhodes played back to McGarrell and was palpably lbw for 36 and Lance Klusener departed next ball when McGarrell spun one between bat and pad to hit off stump. The second match of the one-day series will be played in Antigua on Wednesday before back-to-back games in Grenada next weekend. Reuters Scoreboard South Africa Kirsten b Hooper 38 Gibbs run out (Lara) 8 Kallis c Cuffy b McGarrell 23 Rhodes lbw b McGarrell 36 Mckenzie c Jacobs b Cuffy 21 Boucher c & b Samuels 14 Klusener b McGarrell 0 Pollock not out 26 Ontong c Powell b Hooper 11 Telemachus c & b Samuels 3 Donald b Dillon 3 Extras (b-1 lb-4 w-9 nb-3) 17 Total
(all out, 47.4 overs) 200 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-75, 3-87, 4-131, 5-149, 6-149, 7-159, 8-179, 9-184. Bowling: Dillon 6.4-1-33-1, Cuffy 10-2-37-1, Jeremy 5-0-30-0, Hooper 10-1-45-2, McGarrell 10-0-32-3, Samuels 6-0-18-2. West Indies Garrick c Boucher b Pollock 7 Gayle c Rhodes b Donald 27 Samuels c Boucher b Kallis 17 Lara c Rhodes b Donald 54 Hooper c Kirsten b Telemachus 43 Powell run out (Ontong) 6 Jacobs not out 17 McGarrell c and b Kallis 14 Dillon not out 2 Extras (b-1, lb-5, w-6, nb-3) 15 Total (for seven wickets, Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-51, 3-60, 4-149, 5-162, 6-177, 7-193 Bowling: Pollock 10-1-31-1, Telemachus 9-0-38-1, Donald 10-0-40-2, Kallis 10-1-34-2, Klusener 6-1-30-0, Ontong 5-0-23-0. |
|
Zimbabwe grab quick wickets Harare, April 29 Bangladesh were 130 for four at tea, chasing 167 to level the scores. Habibul Bashar was 13 not out with Akram Khan on two. The visitors scored 254 in their first innings to which Zimbabwe replied with 421 for nine declared. Three overs before tea, Al-Shariar miscued a pull shot off fast bowler Brighton Watambwa and sent a looping catch to Heath Streak at mid-off. The number three scored 68 in three hours off 147 balls with six fours and two sixes. Left-arm spinner Ray Price took two wickets in five balls midway through the second session. Price had opener Javed Omar well caught by Grant Flower at second slip for 43 and four balls later Aminul Islam was adjudged leg-before without offering a stroke to be dismissed for two. Zimbabwe resumed on 377 for six and scored 44 runs in 10 overs before the declaration came when Streak cut at a wide delivery and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Mehrab Hossain off medium pacer Mohammed Sharif for 87. Streak was at the wicket for four-and-a-half hours, faced 164 balls and hit eight fours and a six in search of his maiden Test century. The first wicket of the day fell in the seventh over when Andy Blignaut was run out for 15 at the wicketkeeper’s end by Mohammad Sharif’s throw from short cover. Four overs later Mluleki Nkala was caught behind for seven off left-arm spinner Enamul Hoque. Bangladesh lost their first wicket in the fourth over when Mehrab Hossain drove at a delivery that held its line from fast bowler Brighton Watambwa and edged to it to Blignaut at third slip to be out for a duck. Watambwa, who shared the new ball with Streak, would have had a second wicket four overs later if Mluleki Nkala at short square leg had been able to hang on to the chance offered by Al-Shariar, who was on one with the total at six for one. Zimbabwe wasted another chance to take Al-Sahriar’s wicket two overs before lunch when wicketkeeper Andy Flower missed a stumping chance off left-arm spinner Ray Price. Al-Shariar was 16 and the total was 44 for one. SCOREBOARD Bangladesh (Ist innings): 254 Zimbabwe (Ist innings): (overnight 377-6) Whittall run out (Sharif) 59 Ebrahim c Khan b Rahman 39 S. Carlisle c H. Bashar b Sharif 21 A. Campbell c M.
A. Flower run out (J. Omar) 23 G. Flower c M. Sharif b Hoque 84 Streak c M. Hossain b M. Sharif 87 Blignaut run out (M. Sharif) 15 Nkala c M. Rahman b E. Hoque 7 Price not out 0 Extras: (b-7 lb-6) 13 Total: (for 9 wickets
decl,
Fall of wickets: 1-90, 2-104, 3-164, 4-210, 5-244, 6-377, 7-397, 8-419, 9-421. Bowling: M. Islam 34-9-113-0, M. Sharif 28.5-6-108-2, E. Hoque 46-15-94-2, M. Rahman 11-1-33-0, N. Rahman 28-12-60-2. Bangladesh (2nd innings): J. Omar c G. Flower b Price 43 M Hossain c Blignaut b Watambwa 0 Al-Shariar c Streak
A. Islam lbw b Price 2 H. Bashar not out 13 A. Khan not out 2 Extras: (lb-2) 2 Total: (for four wickets, 52 overs)130 Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-97, 3-99, 4-127. Bowling (to date): Streak 11-4-22-0, Watambwa 10-2-24-2, Blignaut 10-3-19-0, Price 17-6-53-2, G. Flower 3-0-10-0.
Reuters |
|
Akram in squad for England tour Islamabad, April 29 After day-long politicking which saw Waqar Younis, already named skipper, and other officials objecting to the inclusion of Akram in the team, the veteran fast bowler was finally selected as 17th member of the team after Zia exercised his veto power. Earlier differences came to the fore with new captain, Waqar, a bitter critic of Akram, refusing to relent to requests from Zia to include the 34-year-old former skipper Akram in the team, board sources said. Despite persistent efforts, Waqar, supported by former coach Javed Miandad, refused to agree for the inclusion of Akram in the team saying the veteran fast-bowler’s fitness and form were doubtful. However, Akram, no stranger to board’s politics, is believed to have applied heavy pressure on Zia through former Pakistan cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan and some influential journalists. Team: Waqar Younis (capt), Inzamam-ul Haq, Saeed Anwar, Imran Farahat, Mohammad Wasim, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal, Salim Ilahi, Rashid Latif, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Azhar Mahmood, Abdur Razaq, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmad. Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, cleared of chucking charges by Australian experts, also made it to the team despite questionable fitness. The selection was made after the board has issued a press release last night from its headquarters at Lahore saying only the team management has been finalised, which included decision to appoint former Australian cricketer, Daryl Foster as bowling coach. While issuing the press release, board officials said the team would be announced in the next few days. However, the details of the board meeting were leaked out by some of the cricketers and officials who walked out in a huff. Early this week, the board has selected 20 players for a training camp and announced that a 16-member team would be picked from these probables. Prominent among the players who failed to make it to the 20-players list was former skipper, Moin Khan. His rival Rashid Latif was selected to keep the wickets. However, with Akram’s entry through the backdoor, the team now has 17 members. The team includes, three opening batsmen, five middle order batsmen, a wicketkeeper, four fast bowlers, two all-rounders and two spinners.
PTI |
|
I’ll fight Tyson when I am ready: Rahman New York, April 29 Tyson wants Rahman to meet him next but the champion said: “I am not interested in what he wants. He is not the champ, he’s a contender. We’ll give him a chance when we want to”. Rahman took the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belts from Lennox Lewis when he knocked the Briton out in the fifth round in South Africa last week. His promoter, Cedric Kushner, said the odds were 50-50 on which of the two former champions Rahman would fight first. Rahman must decide from whom he will take the millions of dollars sure to be offered for his next fight, which estimates say will be at least $10 million — he received about $1.5 million to fight Lewis. A return match with Lewis is one of the conditions of the contract Rahman signed to get the fight with the former WBC and IBF champion. The question now is whether Rahman will, and can legally, take an interim fight. Kushner said he believes the contract allows an interim fight and that, contrary to rumours, there is nothing to stop his man fighting Tyson before taking on Lewis again. Rahman seems unconcerned whether it is Tyson or Lewis next. “It doesn’t matter to me,” he said yesterday, “just one of those two”. Kushner said both of the main pay-per-view television broadcasters, HBO and Showtime, had made offers to Rahman, but he declined to give any further details. Rahman was asked if he noticed any flaws that enabled him to knock Lewis out. “Every time I gave Lewis a flick (feint) he moved. I flicked to the right and he flicked the other way, I flicked this way (to the left), I saw him move,” he said, indicating he thought Lewis would move into his right hand if Rahman feinted left. “I felt I had him in trouble from the right hand (just before the knockout). He gave me a little smirk and a smile, so I felt the right hand could do some damage”. Rahman was asked to assess Lewis’s heart, which has been questioned throughout his career mostly because the Briton is a methodical, cautious fighter, not a crowd-pleasing brawler. Rahman reeled off at least 10 of the opponents Lewis has dispatched in his career and said: “You can’t question his heart with all of his accomplishments”. The new champion said he felt he owed Lewis a return because the Briton had given him the opportunity to fight for the title, but indicated his next fight would be the one with the biggest payday. Rahman was far from complimentary about Lewis with regard to training in the high altitude of Brakpan, South Africa — the venue for last week’s fight. The former champion has been roundly criticised for only showing up two weeks before the fight and not getting conditioned for the altitude. Rahman trained there for about eight weeks and said he didn’t think even that was enough time to get acclimatised. He said he was surprised at the “arrogance” of Lewis to dismiss “scientific evidence” that the body needs special conditioning for that altitude.
Reuters |
|
NFL: It’s do or die for JCT
today Chandigarh, April 29 Among the teams on the precipice are JCT Phagwara,Air-India,and State Bank of Travancore.Among them JCT's chances of retaining their slot in the next edition appear to be bright as a victory against Salgaocar at Ludhiana's Guru Nanak Stadium tomorrow will boost their tally to 23 points and save them from the ignominy of relegation. Salgaocar will badly miss the services of experienced players like Robert Fernandes,Jules Alberto,and Alvito d'Cunha who are in the Indian team for the World Cup qualifiers.The Goan outfit did give an impressive performance in the first leg by notching up as many as six victories.They defeated Air-India 4-1 ,JCT 1-0,Tollygunge 2-0,Churchill Brothers 2-1,ITI 1-0,and SBT 2-0.It was in the second leg that their progress was halted and they suffered reverses.They won only two matches against Air-India and Vasco and lost eight. Salgaocar's hopes rest with former international Bruno Coutinho,who has been utilising his rich experience to the
hilt. Along with Climax Lawrence ,who incidentally scored the match winner against JCT at Margao on January 28,he has been trying to make up for the absence of Alberto and D'Cunha.In the field,Dennis Cabral and Dharamjit Singh will be the players to watch. JCT,on the other hand,have had a pathetic outing in the league,especially in the first leg.They failed to win a single match.It was only in the second phase that they were able to notch up three wins against Mahindras,SBT and Tollygunge.The Phagwara outfit will be relying on the mercurial Hardeep Gill and the laborious Jaswinder for valuable points.The presence of Jaswant is a big boost for the team.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Must-win situation for Bagan Bangalore, April 29 With just a point behind their arch-rivals and current league leaders East Bengal, the holders need nothing less than a victory for extending their lease on the title. Mohun Bagan should hope that State Bank of Travancore, struggling to avoid relegation, author a major upset against East Bengal at Thiruvananthapuram by either holding them to a draw or defeating the Kolkata team. Mohun Bagan have 42 points while leaders East Bengal have 43. The battle has been even intense at the bottom of the table as teams had been fighting hard to avoid relegation. ITI, placed eighth with 22 points, will need at least a draw to ensure that upset results would not push them out of the competition for the next year. On the other hand, SBT, at the 11th position with 20 points, need a victory to avoid relegation. JCT with 20 points and Air-India with 18 points are the other teams that face the threat of relegation as only top 10 outfits would qualify for the next edition with two new teams elevated. Mohun Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya said they would play aggressively and fire on all cylinders to win their last league encounter and retain the honours. Though they were without some of their star players like R.C. Prakash and Renedy Singh, doing duty for Indian team, Bagan coach was confident his boys would do well in their last league match of the hectic season. MARGAO: Zee Churchill will go all out for a win when they lock horns with F.C. Kochin in their last match to be played at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Monday. With the tussle for first two places between the Kolkata teams on Sunday, when East Bengal take on SBT and Mohun Bagan play ITI, Zee Churchill, who are one point behind F.C. Kochin and placed fourth with 33 points from 21 matches, need a win to climb to third spot. Kochin need a draw to maintain status quo. F.C. Kochin will be fielding the same team that played the last match. Zee Churchill are having problems, with their playmaker Andre Reqena, Francis Silveira and defender Jaspreet Singh nursing injuries and are doubtful starters. After a good first phase, Kochin struggled to find form in the second. The absence of I.M. Vijayan and Joe Paul Anchery has affected the team’s performance as they were blanked 0-3 by East Bengal. MUMBAI: Bottom-placed Air-India will take on strong Vasco Sports Club, Goa in the last match to be played at Cooperage here on Sunday. The local team desperately needs a win with the axe of relegation hanging on their heads. The win will take them to 21 points, improving their placing in the table.
UNI/PTI |
|
Mahindras hold Tollygunge Mumbai, April 29 Mahindras finished their 11 engagements with a tally of 25 points while Tollygunge ended on eighth position with a total of 24 points. Both teams frittered away advantage of winning their last match though there was no danger of relegation. Tollygunge frittered away the lead while Mahindras failed to press home the benefit of facing only 10 rival players after hot-tempered striker Abdul Latif Sereki was sent out for kicking referee K. Shankar in the 31st minute of play. Surprisingly, despite playing with 10 players it was Tollygunge who went ahead in the fourth minute of the second half. Bhabani Mohanty, who had harassed the defence on the left with his short bursts, latched on to a free hit and gave a square pass between two defenders. The ball went to Emka Achilefu who had no problem dodging past the third defender to send in a grounder. The equaliser came in the 78th minute after some hectic moments of miskicks and rebounds. Shasy Raza went deep with a forward pass and then back-heeled the ball to Abbas. The latter’s tame shot got a rebound from over-stretched Hemant Dora to Bernard, who edged it past the Tollygunge goallie, who was still on his knees. Sereki’s rowdy behaviour even surprised his coach Mantoo Ghosh officiating for Amal Dutta. Najeeb had pressed the ball under the feet and Emka was unable to wrench it. Referee gave a free kick to Tollygunge but Sereki still rushed to Shankar and ‘demonstrated’ how the rival player kicked Emka with two kicks on referee. He was promptly give a red card and may meet further punishment. It was Sereki whose angular shot in the opening minute saw Mahindras goallie diving for the save. Dora also in the second half made couple of reflex saves in the second half.
UNI |
|
Nitin, Amit for
NZCA Rohtak, April 29 The meeting of the selection committee was held at Ferozeshah Kotla yesterday under the chairmanship of Rajinder Goel and was attended by national selector Madan Lal, besides representatives from each association in the north. Sunil Saggi (Punjab), Anurag Thakur (Himachal Pradesh), Sunil Dev (Delhi) and Yashpal Sharma (head coach of the North Zone Cricket Academy) participated in the meeting. No representative from Jammu and Kashmir was present. On being asked about the criteria followed for the selection of players for the NZCA, Goel said the age of the cricketer and his recent performance in the league or zonal matches was given weightage. All selected cricketers are below 18 years of age. He disclosed that senior selectors would watch the performance of these youngsters for promotion to the National Cricket Academy at Bangalore. He hoped the training sessions at the academy would be helpful in polishing the talent of the young cricketers as the services of experienced trainers like Yashpal Sharma, Surinder Khanna and Gursharan Singh were available at the academy. Following is the list of trainees: Nitin Aggarwal, Amit Mishra, Deepak Joon, Sumit Sharma (Haryana), Kuldeep Rawat, Kunal Lal, Abhishek Sharma, Vivek Khurana, Abhinav Bali, Himanshu Khullar, Shikhar Dhawan, Sushil Kumar (Delhi), Gursharan Singh, Ankur Jind, Bhupinder Singh, Rahul Arora, Gaurav Gupta (Punjab), Mohinder Sharma, Paras Dogra (HP), H. Selwal (J&K). |
|
Indonesia beat Cambodia Phnom Penh, April 29 But after 78 minutes Indonesia’s Eko Pur Djianto broke the deadlock and Bambang Damungkas added a second nine minutes later. “Cambodia’s team is improving,’’ said Benny Dalo, Indonesia’s head coach. “They are very good. They have a future.’’ Cambodia’s head coach Joachim Fickert said: “I would like to congratulate the Cambodian team. They have potential. They have a bright future, and they are learning. But there is still more to learn. They have to learn how to be dangerous.’’
DPA |
|
Suman wins title Patiala, April 29 In category ‘A’ meant for golfers having a handicap between 0-6, Balwant Singh aggregated 222 to win the title in the nett category. He led by two strokes against Jashanjit Singh who aggregated 224. In category ‘B’, Navtosh Singh finished with 242 to win the title in the gross event, while Jagmohan Singh Gill with a score of 244 was placed second. In the nett event, Lt-Gen H.S. Brar scored 209 to lay his hands on the title while Snehil Sood was placed second with a score of 210. In the ladies section, Mrs Bhupinder Kaur stood first while Mrs Sarabjit Bhuller was placed second. |
|||||
RIVAL FANS RIOT ARGENTINA WIN BOXING BAN? |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
